


Eden High

by GreenGlitchBitch



Series: Good Omens [12]
Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Almost First Kiss, Almost Love Confession, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Artist Crowley (Good Omens), Author has ADHD so she gets it, Aziraphale has a crush, Aziraphale has loving parents, Basically everyone but the Archangels ship him and Crowley, Christmas, Crowley Has ADHD (Good Omens), Crowley Has Long Hair (Good Omens), Crowley Hates Gabriel (Good Omens), Crowley has a crush, Crowley is Bad at Feelings (Good Omens), First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, I don't even know if Hastur and Ligur are dating, Literal Sleeping Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Making Out, No Homophobia, Nobody knows if Hastur and Ligur are dating, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rated T for language, She/Her Pronouns for Beelzebub (Good Omens), She/Her Pronouns for Dagon (Good Omens), She/Her Pronouns for Michael (Good Omens), She/Her Pronouns for Uriel (Good Omens), Sleepovers, Slow Burn, Soft Crowley (Good Omens), but I'm proud of it anyway, his mom ships him and Crowley, just a wholesome high school au, this was a cluster fuck of words
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:31:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25450156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenGlitchBitch/pseuds/GreenGlitchBitch
Summary: As he got closer, he noted that the student appeared to be male, though he didn’t want to make any assumptions. They also had their bag with them, so perhaps they also had a free period? And they were wearing all black clothing, including a black leather jacket, which Ezra hoped wasn’t too hot for them, seeing as it wasn’t even October yet, and the weather was still a bit too warm to be wearing leather jackets outside. As he got closer, he realized the student had very red hair, pulled up into a messy bun. It did look familiar, but again, he didn’t want to assume anything. Finally stepping up next to the student, he realized he recognized him. And yes, he knew now that the student was a him. It was that boy he had history class with. They’d never spoken before, but Ezra found him interesting. He never seemed to do much work in the class. He kept to himself, rarely saying a word, and he always wore sunglasses, even inside. The teacher never said anything about that though, so Ezra assumed he had special permission.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Series: Good Omens [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1621834
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Soooooo, this kind of came about because of Tumblr. Some people had been posting their High School AUs, and I decided to come up with one. And then it got really fleshed out, enough so that I even have Crowley and Aziraphale's schedules planned for both the current year their in, and their senior year. This is my first attempt at any kind of High School AU, but, as someone who graduated High School end of May last year, I should be able to get back into High School mode, and use what I have learned in this fic. Fair warning though, I am american, and while this takes place in an unnamed place in England, I'll be using American High School terms, because I'm lazy. It takes place in 2020, because I wanted it to, and it's just gonna be a wholesome High School AU, no homophobic characters, maybe a little angst, a lot of fluff, and it'll probably make me flashback to my time in High School a lot. Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this first chapter, and as usual, I don't have a posting schedule, but there will probably be a couple more chapters up by the end of the day, because I'm into this fic now. But, enjoy!

_ BRING _ !! 

The bell to move on to the next class rang out through the school, and Ezra Fell began packing his books into his bag. As much as he loved AP Lit, it took a lot out of him sometimes. He was just incredibly grateful he had a free period right after. His brain was still in reading mode, and it was the perfect time to pick up a book, and read it, completely undisturbed for an hour and a half, in the library. He placed the strap of his bag around his shoulders, gave his teacher a quick farewell, and headed out of the classroom, towards the library. He could take as long as he wanted on his walk across the building. The hallways began to empty of students, as everyone rushed to their next class, and Ezra calmly made his way down the first flight of stairs. His AP Lit class was on the third floor of the school, and the library was on the first. He didn’t mind, of course. He enjoyed the walk through the building when there was nobody else in the hallways. It was very peaceful, and it was a nice break from having to push through a crowd of people to get to his classes on time.

The walk took him some 10 minutes, mostly because he felt like taking his time. The library across from the back of the school, and there were a few floor to ceiling windows in front, that gave you a nice view to the sports fields out back. Eden High wasn’t much of a sports school, mostly known for its arts and academics. But they still offered a variety of sports for everyone to try out. That didn’t stop their football team from being terrible, but nobody talked about that. When Ezra finally turned the corner to the library, something out of the window caught his eye. There was a student standing outside, alone. Ezra was usually not a curious person, by nature, but he couldn’t help but wonder what they were doing there. Classes had only started around 13 minutes ago, if his watch was accurate, and the student didn’t seem to be with any class. His curiosity finally got the better of him, and he pushed open the door next to the windows, stepping outside. 

As he got closer, he noted that the student appeared to be male, though he didn’t want to make any assumptions. They also had their bag with them, so perhaps they also had a free period? And they were wearing all black clothing, including a black leather jacket, which Ezra hoped wasn’t too hot for them, seeing as it wasn’t even October yet, and the weather was still a bit too warm to be wearing leather jackets outside. As he got closer, he realized the student had very red hair, pulled up into a messy bun. It did look familiar, but again, he didn’t want to assume anything. Finally stepping up next to the student, he realized he recognized him. And yes, he knew now that the student was a him. It was that boy he had history class with. They’d never spoken before, but Ezra found him interesting. He never seemed to do much work in the class. He kept to himself, rarely saying a word, and he always wore sunglasses, even inside. The teacher never said anything about that though, so Ezra assumed he had special permission.

“That went down like a lead balloon” the boy said, and Ezra jumped in surprise. He hadn’t been expecting him to say anything.

“Sorry, what?” Ezra asked, and the boy turned to face him, a soft smirk resting comfortably on his face, like that was an expression he used daily.

“I said, that went down like a lead balloon” the boy repeated, and Ezra felt as though he had just been told a joke, but only the punchline, and was very confused.

“What did?” he asked, a little embarrassed. The boy’s smirk widened into a smile. It suited his face well, Ezra decided.

“Today’s attempts to correct my constantly wrong English teacher. This time, she tried to claim that in describing a door as red, Shakespeare was talking about his pent up anger. I told her ‘sometimes a red door is just a fucking red door. Not every author hides a hidden meaning in every bloody sentence they've ever written’. Only took me 10 minutes to get kicked out of class today. New record” the boy said, still smiling, as though it amused him. It did.

“Yes, that is a problem with English teachers, isn’t it. The constant grasping at double meaning straws” Ezra said, and the boy laughed.

“It’s almost ineffable, isn’t it? For English teachers to over analyze everything” the boy replied, and Ezra found himself smiling. He quite liked this boy.

“Yes, I quite agree…” he trailed off, hoping the boy would introduce himself.

“A-Crowley” the boy, Crowley said, and Ezra smiled.

“Crowley” he repeated, and Crowley grinned at him. Around them, storm clouds began gathering, and a cool breeze blew. Ezra realized Crowley’s leather jacket might come in handy after all.

“Don’t we have a class together?” Crowley asked, looking at him curiously, or at least, Ezra assumed it was curiosity. He couldn’t quite tell. Crowley’s eyes were blocked behind his dark glasses.

“We do. History, fourth period” Ezra answered, and Crowley nodded.

“Right. That teacher seems hell bent on getting us to work on projects together” Crowley said with a laugh, and Ezra smiled again.

“Do you think I did the wrong thing, by correcting my teacher?” Crowley asked, his voice turning softer. Ezra began to think Crowley might regret his decision.

“Perhaps you should not have disrespected your teacher like that, but making constant assumptions, and believing them to be fact was just as wrong” Ezra replied, after a little bit of thought.

“So we both got it wrong. Bit funny, if you ask me” Crowley said, his smirk returning.

“Yes, it is a bit funny” Ezra replied. The first drops of rain began falling from the clouds overhead, and Ezra reached into his bag, pulling out his umbrella. Crowley had begun to work his jacket over his head, when Ezra opened his umbrella, and held it over both their heads. Crowley looked up at it, and almost winced at the tartan design that Ezra had found charming, but he stepped closer all the same, both boys standing under the umbrella.

“Didn’t catch your name” Crowley said, after a while. Ezra smiled softly.

“Ezra Fell” he said, and Crowley nodded, a soft smile on his face.

“Ezra Fell” he repeated softly, as they stood together under the shared umbrella. That day, Ezra never made it to the library for his free period.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He watched the rest of the students file in, and one quickly caught his eye. A young boy with the blondest hair he’d ever seen. There was no way it could be real, but this kid didn’t look like the kind to bleach his hair, so it had to be real. He was wearing rounded glasses, and he was dressed like someone’s granddad. Light tan corduroy pants, and a matching color button up shirt. The only thing he seemed to be missing was a bow tie, and Crowley would have thought this kid was a time traveler. And he had some of the bluest eyes Crowley had ever seen in his life. They looked like the sky outside, and he had a kind smile, as he greeted the teacher, and sat down closer to the front. Honestly, if Crowley didn’t know better, he’d say this kid was an angel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place a month in the past, to when Crowley and Aziraphale first "meet" each other, without actually meeting each other. And yes, Crowley is an artist, because I love the hell out of that headcannon. I hope you guys enjoy!

To understand the true significance of this first meeting, we need to begin earlier. A little more than a month earlier. Anthony Crowley had taken his first steps into his fourth period History class. Looking around the room, he noticed all the educational history posters, the cupboards that clearly held textbooks. He walked over to the teacher, and handed her both his doctor’s note, and the principal’s, saying he was allowed to keep his sunglasses on during class, and outlined his condition. She looked over the notes, and have him a simple nod. He nodded back, then turned around, walked to the farthest desk in the room, placed his bag on it, and sat in the chair. 

He watched the rest of the students file in, and one quickly caught his eye. A young boy with the blondest hair he’d ever seen. There was no way it could be real, but this kid didn’t look like the kind to bleach his hair, so it had to be real. He was wearing rounded glasses, and he was dressed like someone’s granddad. Light tan corduroy pants, and a matching color button up shirt. The only thing he seemed to be missing was a bow tie, and Crowley would have thought this kid was a time traveler. And he had some of the bluest eyes Crowley had ever seen in his life. They looked like the sky outside, and he had a kind smile, as he greeted the teacher, and sat down closer to the front. Honestly, if Crowley didn’t know better, he’d say this kid was an angel.

“Anthony Crowley?” the teacher called, and Crowley was pulled back to reality. 

“Yes?” he asked, and she just smiled at him.

“Good, you’re here today” she said. Okay, she was only taking attendance. He started pulling out his notebook from his bag, and a pen, to take notes.

“Ezra Fell?” the teacher asked, and the angelic boy raised his hand politely, and she smiled. For someone who looked like an angel, he didn’t have much of an angelic name. Crowley dug through his bag a little, and pulled out a hair tie that had been long lost in the bottom of his bag already, and tied his hair into a quick and messy bun, to keep his hair out of his face, in case he had to take notes already. The teacher was still taking attendance, so Crowley pulled out his phone for a second, then put it away when he realized he had no idea what to do with it, so he doodled a little bit on the first page of his notebook. If he ended up doodling angel wings, and designing the kind of bow tie Ezra would wear, that was between him and the notebook.

Once the teacher finally finished attendance, she did a little introduction, and moved right away into the first lesson, with England and Scotland, because of course that was the first lesson. Crowley listened and took notes, until the teacher decided to single him out for a question. 

“Anthony” she began, and he looked up. It felt weird to be called Anthony.

“Actually, I go by Crowley, if that’s alright with you” he said, and she nodded simply, and started over.

“Crowley, true or false, Queen Elizabeth the First was succeeded by her husband and oldest son when she died” she said, and Crowley smiled. 

“False. She never married, and never had kids, which is why she holds the nickname of ‘the Virgin Queen’” he said, and she nodded approvingly. 

“Correct. Though, for those of you who watch Doctor Who, this is no longer true, to the fault of David Tennant” she joked, and Crowley laughed just a little. She did have a point. As the class moved on, Crowley found himself focused on Ezra a little more. He seemed like an interesting person, Crowley couldn’t help it. He had the kind of face you might find in a Renaissance painting, if he were being honest. Near the end of the class, the teacher announced that they would begin working on a project starting the next class.

“Nothing too big. Don’t want to overwork you right away” she said, chuckling at her own joke.

“Just a poster outlining the actions the cousin Queens made leading up to Mary’s beheading, and what they could have done differently. Decorate it however you wish, just be sure to keep it appropriate. And for this, we’ll be pairing off, as a way of helping you all get to know each other better” she said, and Crowley rolled his eyes. He preferred to work alone. Kept him from getting weird looks and questions about his eyes.

“Ezra, you can work with Crowley” he heard the teacher say, and he sat up just a little straighter. He could work with that. Out of everyone he’s seen at this school so far, he wouldn’t mind getting to know more about this kid. But, Ezra raised his hand.

“Excuse me ma’am, but if it’s alright with you, I much prefer to work alone. It’s easier for me to think that way” the boy said, and Crowley visibly deflated a little. Thankfully, he didn’t think anyone saw.

“I guess that’s alright. Crowley, we can pair you with someone else, if you’d like” the teacher offered, but Crowley shook his head.

“Nah” he said simply, and she nodded slowly. 

“Well, I guess everyone has their partner, aside from Ezra and Crowley. With the time left in class, get together with your partner, and begin to plan what your poster will look like and say” she said, and people started moving. Crowley just flipped to another page in his notebook, and started sketching until the bell rang for lunch. He packed up his things and left the classroom, waving at his teacher. As he wandered around looking for somewhere to eat, his eyes fell on the almost white hair of Ezra, contemplating whether or not to walk up and introduce himself. His answer was given to him involuntarily, when he suddenly looked up, and couldn’t see Ezra around anymore. Oh well. At least he’ll see that interesting kid every week. He’ll introduce himself next class.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rain hadn’t stopped by the time the bell rang for them to move onto History. Crowley bent over and picked up his bag, placing it on his shoulders. Ezra followed his movements, and made sure the umbrella still covered him, and Crowley couldn’t help but smile. He’d been right. Ezra was an interesting person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, last chapter of the day, I promise. Back to the present! I already love this story. It's a bit tricky trying to figure out characterizations for Crowley and Ezra, because I'm not used to not writing them as immortal beings. So far, I'm kind of happy with their characters, but I still have no idea what I'm doing, so this is just me making it up as I go. As usual. And yes, in this, I made Crowley ADHD, just because I felt like it made sense for him. I myself am diagnosed ADHD, so I might just base Crowley's off of my own. He basically just gets easily distracted, he thinks of things in the wrong order, like the "ducks!" thing from the show. He fidgets a bit. He pays attention in class, but tends to finish his work early, and he can be very energetic at times. It's why he can't focus on a book. I have the same issue at times. I'll go through an entire 3 pages in a book, and realized I haven't read anything, and I have to go back. And he listens to music to help him think. I do the same thing. Also, Crowley has Coloboma, which is a real medical condition where the pupil of your eye looks irregular, I think. So his eyes are like, a light brown, but his pupils are elongated. It doesn't affect his vision, but people sometimes react to his eyes negatively, so he avoids that by wearing sunglasses. And I think that's all the notes this time. I really hope you guys are enjoying this, because I am!

The rain hadn’t stopped by the time the bell rang for them to move onto History. Crowley bent over and picked up his bag, placing it on his shoulders. Ezra followed his movements, and made sure the umbrella still covered him, and Crowley couldn’t help but smile. He’d been right. Ezra was an interesting person.

“Well, seeing as we’re heading in the same direction, we may as well walk to History together” he offered, and Crowley nodded. Might as well. Together, still under Ezra’s umbrella, they walked back to the door, and entered the school together, Crowley holding the door open for Ezra, as he folded up his umbrella, and shook the excess water off of it. They didn’t have far to walk to get to History, only up one flight of stairs, and a couple hallways. Might as well get to know each other better in that walk.

“Forgive me if I’m being rude, but, why do you wear sunglasses inside?” Ezra asked, and Crowley didn’t want to smile, but he couldn’t help it. Ezra was just so polite.

“I have an eye condition. Doesn’t really affect my vision, but people tend to stare, and call me freak if I walk around with my eyes uncovered. It’s just easier to wear sunglasses. Got a doctor’s note and everything, saying I need to wear them though. Besides, they make me look cool” Crowley replied, his smile turning into a smirk.

“May I see your eyes?” Ezra asked, and Crowley hesitated. He’d only just properly met Ezra. He didn’t want to scare him off before they could become proper friends. Ezra seemed to notice Crowley’s hesitance.

“It’s alright if you don’t wish to show me. I don’t want you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with” he said, and Crowley felt his cheeks redden just a little. Damned circulatory system. 

“Thanks. I don’t usually show anyone my eyes, aside from my parents. I don’t like seeing them either. They look unnatural” he admitted, a bit surprised with his honesty. He’d only just started talking to Ezra. Sure, they have a class together, and they’re not complete strangers, but he barely knows this kid. 

“Well, I hope one day you are comfortable enough to show me. I’m sure they look lovely and nowhere near unnatural” Ezra said, and Crowley blushed again. 

“Thanks” he replied. Suddenly, he found the courage he’d been missing for a month.

“Hey, we have History together, and then lunch is right after. Do you want to hang out for lunch? You seem like an interesting person, and so far, I like talking to you, and I don’t really have friends, just people I’d consider acquaintances, and now I’m rambling” he said, finding he couldn’t quite stop talking. Ezra smiled kindly at him.

“That would be lovely! I usually spend my lunch in the library, but if you want to go somewhere else, I wouldn’t mind” he said, and Crowley smiled.

“Thought you couldn’t eat in the library” he said, and Ezra smirked. Crowley’s heart stopped in his chest. That was a dangerous look for the very soft looking boy next to him, and he kind of hoped he’d be able to see it more than once.

“You can’t. But the librarian and I have an agreement, and she knows I won’t ruin any of the books” Ezra said, and Crowley smiled.

“You like books?” he asked, and Ezra’s eyes brightened as he nodded.

“Very much so. There’s something wonderful about books that’s difficult to describe. Are you a book reader?” he asked, and Crowley shook his head a little.

“Not really. I’ve tried, but it’s difficult. I find I can’t really focus on the words, and sometimes the font feels too small for my eyes. Probably has something to do with my ADHD. But I listen to audiobooks, usually while I’m painting, as background noise” he said, before realizing he’d mentioned painting. Nobody knew he painted, and he didn’t bring it up with anyone.

“Oh, you paint! How wonderful. Do you have any specific subject you focus on, or do you just paint everything?” Ezra asked, and Crowley blushed again. He really wished he could stop doing that.

“I usually focus on space, stars, planets, things like that. Sometimes I’ll paint flowers and still lifes, but I like painting space the most” he said, as they reached the hallway that their History class was on.

“Well, I hope to see some of your paintings one day” Ezra said, as they reached the open door of the History class, and walked in together. The seating chart of that class wasn’t set, the desks were first come first serve. For the first time since school began, Crowley sat away from the back of the room, he and Ezra still chatting together, as they took a pair of empty desks closer to the middle. Unbeknownst to them, their teacher noticed them finally talking together, and smiled to herself, before starting the lesson of the day.

When class was finally over, Crowley and Ezra walked together to the library, chatting all the while. 

“What class do you have after lunch?” Crowley asked, as they entered the library.

“French” Ezra answered. 

“Any good at it?” Crowley asked, and Ezra blushed. Crowley decided he liked seeing Ezra’s cheeks redden.

“Absolutely rubbish. I used to know some when I was younger, but I’m a bit out of practice, if I’m being honest” he said, and Crowley smiled.

“And yourself? Next class?” Ezra asked, as he and Crowley claimed an open space towards the back of the library. It was sort of like a cubby where they could chat without disturbing people.

“Art. Been working on a project for that class, and I’m close to finishing” Crowley said, and Ezra smiled.

“Do you have any pictures?” he asked, and Crowley nodded, taking out his phone, and pulling up his gallery. It was a beautiful piece, space themed, of course. It was mixed media. Ezra could tell there was acrylic and watercolor, and what looked like metallic leaf, which impressed him greatly.

“What is it of?” he asked, and Crowley smiled. He found that he’d done that more times today than he had in all his time since Freshman year. 

“It’s a supernova” he said, and Ezra nodded, clearly fascinated.

“Do you have any other paintings you’ve done?” he asked, and Crowley opened his paintings album, and handed Ezra his phone, letting him scroll through.

“Crowley, these are truly beautiful. You are incredibly talented” Ezra said, smiling brightly. Crowley smiled back.

“It’s not much. I just do it for fun right now” he said, and Ezra looked up at him.

“You could have a career in painting. I have no doubt that people would pay money to own a painting as good as these” he said, and Crowley’s cheeks warmed for what felt like the millionth time that day.

“Here’s a question for you. Why the hell does your umbrella have tartan, of all things, on it?” Crowley asked, having clearly wondered this since they stood outside in the rain. Ezra feigned a hurt expression.

“Tartan is stylish, dear boy” he exclaimed, and Crowley laughed.

“Now I’m convinced you’re a time traveler. Nobody has said ‘dear boy’ since the 1800s!” Crowley said, and Ezra laughed.

“Well, I have” Ezra said, and Crowley shook his head softly, and smiled just as softly at Ezra.

“You are the most unique person I have ever met, and I have met some unique people” Crowley said, and Ezra blushed again. Crowley was positive he would never get over that. They continued chatting all throughout lunch, until the bell rang, and they had to go to their next class. They cleaned up their food, and walked out of the library together, heading in almost the same direction. But French was on the first floor, and the art room was on the second. Before they reached the staircase, Crowley stopped Ezra.

“Hey, do you have a phone?” he asked, and Ezra smiled.

“Of course I do. Why would I not have a phone?” he asked, and Crowley smiled back. 

“Well, you own a tartan umbrella, you say ‘dear boy’ and on the first day of school, you came dressed like someone’s grandad. All that was missing from that ensemble was a bow tie, and I’m positive that if you had worn one, it would have been tartan” Crowley said, and Ezra laughed.

“Yes, I have a phone” he said, and Crowley pulled his out again.

“What’s your phone number?” he asked, and Ezra blushed, giving Crowley his number. It hadn’t escaped his notice that Crowley set his contact name to “Angel”. 

“Great. I’m just sending you a text so you can put my number in your phone” Crowley said, and Ezra felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out, and read the text. It simply said, “Tartan is still not stylish”. He laughed and shot back a “yes it is”. Crowley laughed, and they put their phones back.

“Right, I’ve got to go to art. Don’t want to be late. Good luck in French. Hope you don’t stay rubbish at it” Crowley said, and Ezra laughed.

“Yes, so do I. Bye Crowley!” he said, and Crowley waved, smiling brightly at him.

“Catch you later, Ezra!” Crowley replied, and made his way up the steps to the second floor, smiling all the way to class. He’d definitely been right. Ezra was a really interesting person. Crowley just hoped he could find a way to keep him around. Just before he entered the art room, his phone vibrated. He pulled it out, and saw that Ezra had texted him. It was just a screenshot of Crowley’s contact, the name simply reading “demon”. Crowley smiled, sent a demon emoji, and put away his phone, walking into the art room. Today was a good day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Anyway, we just wanted to tell you to keep away from him. He’s bad news. Used to run with us when we were Freshmen, but he started hanging with Beez’s group, and ended up asking a lot of questions about us and them. We had a falling out, and he joined Beez’s group. He’s no good for you” Gabriel said, and Ezra shook his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't planning in writing and posting a chapter today, but then I realized I really wanted to introduce the Archangels and the Demons. Neither group is a gang of bullies. The Archangels are more sporty, but not Jocks. They're passive aggressive, and very righteous. The Demons are the schools pranking group. They're the Bart Simpsons of Eden High. But they're also not bullies. Crowley used to hang with both groups, the Archangels in Freshman year, and the Demons in Sophomore. At this point in the story, he isn't part of either group, but he's still on good terms with the Demons. Sometimes they ask him to join in on a prank, but he usually declines. The only times he accepts, if it's some douchebag who deserved it. Ezra is an "honorary" member of the Archangels, which means he's not technically a part of their group, but they include him in things they do. He didn't want to accept, but he was a Sophomore, and he didn't know better, and he was too polite to say no. He doesn't like them very much, but he doesn't explicitly say that to them. I did want to kind of humanize a few names, so they were less biblical. That's why Uriel became Uri, and Beelzebub became Beez. Sandalphon stayed the same, because I thought that would be funny. Also, I made Beelzebub non-binary in my last chapter fic, but in this one, they're female, because I love the idea that this tiny, like, 5'2 teenage girl is the leader of this pranking group, and pulls off some pretty crazy pranks, wears leather jackets, and is an all around Tomboy. Also, Dagon, Michael and Uriel are also female, just so everyone knows. And I mention that Hastur and Ligur might be dating, but it's not really implied ineffable maggots, it's more a running joke that nobody can tell if they're dating or not, not even Beez and Dagon. Anyway, enough notes explaining my bullshit, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

When Ezra was dropped off at school the next day, the first people he saw were the last people he wanted to.

“Ezra Fell. Been a while” Gabriel said, walking up to Ezra, Uri, MIchael and Sandalphon following him.

“It’s been about a week and a half, but sure, a while” Ezra said, crossing his arms and glaring at Gabriel.

“Come one, no need for that. Can’t one group of friends say hi to their loner friend?” Gabriel asked, and Ezra fought the urge to roll his eyes.

“Not when that group of ‘friends’ is you four” Ezra said, using finger quotations for friends. Gabriel laughed passive aggressively.

“Well, we’re just here to warn you about that kid you gave your number to” he said, and Ezra’s eyes widened.

“How did you know I gave him my number?” he asked, and Michael laughed softly.

“Ezra, of course we knew. We make it our business to know” she said, and Ezra got a little creeped out.

“Anyway, we just wanted to tell you to keep away from him. He’s bad news. Used to run with us when we were Freshmen, but he started hanging with Beez’s group, and ended up asking a lot of questions about us and them. We had a falling out, and he joined Beez’s group. He’s no good for you” Gabriel said, and Ezra shook his head. That was no reason to not become friends with Crowley. Ezra himself was technically a “honorary” member of the Archangels, according to Gabriel, even if he hated that title. He was just too polite to say no when they offered. 

“That’s all well and good, but I don’t see why I shouldn’t be friends with him” Ezra said, crossing his arms again.

“He has no loyalty. He doesn’t even run with the Demons anymore. He left them, end of last year” Uri said, and Ezra rolled his eyes.

“Maybe he just didn’t want to be in anyone’s clique” he offered, and Gabriel chuckled, amused. 

“Keep telling yourself that. He’s turned his back on 2 groups of people who were once his friends. That’s 8 people. Who’s to say he won’t turn his back on you by next year? Find a whole new Ezra Fell to be friends with. He’s toxic. That’s what he does” Gabriel said, sounding irritated. Ezra almost smiled at his tone, but his words were admittedly troubling him. What if Crowley did leave him by next year? He didn’t even know the guy that well. After all, they sat across the room for each other for a month, but they only finally spoke yesterday. Could he trust Crowley? Ezra shook his head to get the thoughts out of his head. Of course he could. Crowley hadn’t done anything to make him think otherwise.

“Ezra!” he heard a familiar voice from behind. Speak of the demon. He turned around to face Crowley, as he approached.

“Good morning Crowley!” he said, waving at him. Crowley smiled and waved back.

“Just got here, and noticed there was still 20 minutes before classes started. Did you want to go get some breakfast? They stop serving it in 10” he offered, and Ezra smiled. 

“That sounds lovely!” he said, and Crowley finally acknowledged the Archangels.

“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” he asked, his tone growing a few degrees colder. Gabriel chuckled again.

“No, we were just catching up, Tony” he said, and Crowley winced.

“It’s Crowley” he said defensively. Gabriel nodded.

“Right, I’ll try to remember that, next time we run into our old friend” he said passive aggressively. He and Crowley seemed to be having a staring match. 

“Well, we best be going. Cafe closes soon” Ezra said, bringing Crowley back to the present. He backed up and his smiled returned.

“Right! Let’s get you some breakfast, on me!” he said, and Ezra gasped.

“Crowley, you don’t have to do that” he said, but Crowley waved him off and laughed.

“Nope. I just wanted to” he said, and Ezra found his cheeks reddening again. 

“Well, we don’t want to hold you two up. Have a fun breakfast date” Gabriel said, waving them goodbye. Ezra turned to say they weren’t dating, but Gabriel and his posse were already walking in the other direction. He and Crowley walked together into the school, and to the cafe on the first floor.

“What’s your first class today?” Ezra asked, as they passed the library.

“Piano. And you?” Crowley asked. Ezra blushed, a little embarrassed.

“Baking” he said, and Crowley smiled. 

“Why does that not surprise me?” he asked, and Ezra laughed.

“What did the Arch-douches want?” Crowley asked, and Ezra stopped laughing abruptly. Could he trust Crowley? Should he tell him? Yes, he decided. He quite liked Crowley, and wanted to be his friend, and friends don’t keep things from each other.

“Apparently, they wanted to warn me to keep away from you. They said you were toxic, and that you couldn’t be trusted” Ezra said, and Crowley laughed coldly.

“They would say that. Can’t believe they’re still salty about what happened 2 years ago!” he said, and Ezra looked at him curiously.

“What happened 2 years ago?” he asked, as they turned the corner, and approached the cafe, at the end of the hallway.

“I was a completely different person 2 years ago. Wore a lot of white, had no style at all. Even went by 'Tony', for reasons I still can’t understand. But, I became friends with Gabriel, and he invited me to join the Archangels. I was super happy about it, because I was a dumbass Freshman, so I said yes. But, as the year continued, I started to see that the Archangels weren’t all they were cracked up to be. Very focused on sports, and incredibly passive aggressive. I started looking for better, less shitty people to hang out with. I started hanging out with the Demons. They seemed nicer, which is so ironic. I had this stupid idea that maybe we could combine the Archangels and Demons, and make both groups just a little bit better. I brought it up with Gabriel, and he shot down the idea instantly. I kept asking me why, and in the end, he kicked me out. After that, I joined the Demons. Stopped calling myself ‘Tony’, started going by ‘Crawly’, which I still regret. It sounded cooler at the time, but I was an idiot back then. I stopped wearing so much white, started wearing black, but it got super overboard. I was like, the Emo King all year. Cut my hair short early on in the year, and then internally regret that decision for the rest of the year. Got really close to getting a tattoo that actually was pretty cool looking, but I chickened out at the last minute. Might actually go though with that though. Even listened to My Chemical Romance, almost religiously. But after a while, I started to see the problem with them too. They seemed nice on the surface, but underneath, they were just as bad as the Archangels, just in a less passive aggressive way. They weren’t bullies or anything, but they pull some pretty crazy shit, that can sometimes be borderline, at best. In the end, I just didn’t like them any better than the Archangels, and I left on my own. They let me go without any consequences, but sometimes they come calling for me to join them. I almost always say no, unless it’s something that screws over some asshole who deserved it. In the end, I just decided to stick to myself, and stop seeking out friends. If someone really wants to be my friend, they’ll show up all on their own” Crowley explained, as they finally entered the cafe, with 5 minutes left to get some breakfast. Ezra nodded slowly as Crowley explained, and was grateful that he was hearing the truth from him, and not anybody else.

“Well, I’m glad you’ve decided to be you. I like the Crowley I’ve met” Ezra said, and Crowley’s blush didn’t escape him. He smiled to himself.

“Well, I’m glad. Now, let’s get you some breakfast!” Crowley said, and they both grabbed some food, Ezra grabbing a little bit of everything, and Crowley just got a bright red apple. They sat together eating, until the bell rang, and they had to go to their first class. Crowley chucked his apple core into the trash, and Ezra cleared off his tray, placing it where used trays go, and together, they walked to their first classes. But, because Ezra had baking, he didn’t have to travel far. The cooking classes were all very close to the cafe.

“Well, enjoy piano” Ezra said, and Crowley smiled.

“Bake me something good” Crowley said and Ezra laughed, waving goodbye to Crowley. Crowley waved back, and began his walk to piano. Halfway there, he pulled out his phone, and texted Ezra, “lunch at the library again?”. It didn’t take long for Ezra to reply, “Sounds delightful. See you then”. Crowley laughed to himself, and rushed to make it to class. 

Thankfully, today was an A day, so there were only 2 classes before lunch. Unfortunately, they were both an hour and a half long. When Crowley finished English, he’d tried very hard to keep his mouth shut today. He couldn’t get kicked out of class 2 days in a row, or his parents would be told. As soon as the bell rang, he gathered his thing, and made his way downstairs. He wasn’t far from the library when he came across some old “friends”.

“Crawly!” Hastur said, and Crowley rolled his eyes behind his glasses. Hastur never bothered to remember the name he was going by. At least it wasn’t ‘Tony’.

“Hello Hastur. Haven’t blown up another loo, have you?” Crowley asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

“Always a joker, weren’t you?” Ligur asked, leaning against Hastur. Those two were practically inseparable. Crowley was about 85% sure they were dating, but he could never find evidence.

“Well, I try my best” he said, smirking at them.

“Look, I know what you’re going to ask. The answer is no. I haven’t seen anyone recently who deserves a good vibe check” he said quickly, just trying to get them to leave him alone, so he could get to the library.

“That’s not what we’re here for, Crowley” Beez said from behind him, and he jumped. How the hell did she do that, everytime?

“Then what do you want?” he asked, and she smirked at him.

“We heard from a little righteous asswipe, that you’ve finally found yourself a boyfriend. We came here to congratulate you!” she said, and Crowley rolled his eyes again. Of course Gabriel would say that.

“First of all, we’re not dating. We’re hardly even friends. We’ve only just started talking to each other yesterday, for someone’s sake. And secondly, finally talking to the Archangels. Glad you finally took to my idea. When can we expect the merger to happen?” he asked, crossing his arms, and leaning his back against the wall.

“Crowley, you haven’t spoken to anyone casually except us and the Archangel’s for the last 2 years. Excuse us for not believing you don’t at least already have a crush on Ezra Fell. Can we expect wedding invitations soon?” Dagon asked, smirking amused at him from Beez’s right. Crowley snorted. Like that’ll ever happen. There’s no way Ezra sees Crowley as anything more than a companion at the moment.

“Well, if that ever happens, you four can expect an invitation before the Archangel’s, that’s for damned sure” he said, and Hastur laughed.

“Should I start writing my Best Man speech yet?” he said, and Crowley laughed.

“Like you’d be my Best Man, Hastur. If it’s gonna be anyone here, it’s gonna be Beez. At least she gets my name right” he said, and Beez laughed.

“You’re gonna regret that. I will call you ‘Tony’ the entire time, and compile every picture I can of you last year into a slideshow to play in the background” she said, and Crowley groaned.

“You can’t do that at my own wedding!” he said, and she smirked.

“I can and I will” she said, and he laughed.

“Alright, do you have a warning for me to stay away from Ezra, or did you just want to invite yourselves to my imaginary, never happening wedding?” he asked, and Dagon laughed.

“The latter” she said, and Beez laughed, nodding.

“Well, thank you for RSVPing. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to meet my ‘groom’ in the library to begin planning the wedding” he joked, pushing off of the wall, and walking towards the library, waving at the Demons behind him.

“Bye Crowley! Let us know if he says yes when you propose!” Ligur called behind him, and Crowley laughed as he opened the door to the library.

“You’ll be the first to know, I promise!” he called back, and hearing laughter, he entered the library, and walked back to the spot he and Ezra had lunch at the previous day, a smile on his face. Leave it to the Demons to put a smile on his face sometimes.

“Sorry I’m a little late. Ran into the Demons on my way here, we chatted for a bit” he said, when he finally found Ezra, his nose stuck in a book. Ezra looked up from his book and smiled.

“Oh, that’s alright. I was just continuing my book” he said, and Crowley sat down across from Ezra. He was reading an Oscar Wilde poem book. Of course he would. Crowley smiled softly at him. Maybe Crowley was beginning to take a liking to this angelic looking boy. His cheeks reddened. Damn the Demons for seeing it before he did. Looks like Crowley’s got a crush.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I asked if you wanted to hang out, together, after school today, you wiley old serpent" he said, fondly. Ezra had started calling Crowley that, after he found out the other boy had a fascination with snakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! New chapter! I kind of based it off of my own personal experiences in High School, with how I was with my best friend (who I also had a crush on(and still do)). We met in Junior year, sat across from each other in science class for about a month, before we finally found something we had in common to talk about, and a couple of months later, we were hanging out all the time! It took us a while to actually hang out outside of school, because we live a good 10 minute drive away from each other, and neither of us had a car or license at the time. But we hung out in school as often as we could. So (long story short), I'm basically basing this off of my own experiences in my last 2 years of high school with my best friend. Anyway, I originally planned to have Crowley and Ezra hang out at Ezra's house, but I'm gonna hold onto that till later. And as of right now, neither of them have a license or a car. That will change later on too, because Crowley needs to be a speed demon, even when he's a human teenager. Okay, enough of my rambling, I hope you enjoy! (Also, I'm still debating on whether or not I should introduce Anathema and Newt. What do you guys think?)

A month had passed since Crowley and Ezra had finally started talking, and several things had been discovered. Firstly, that they should have started talking 2 months ago. Secondly, they didn’t have very much in common, in terms of beliefs, styles, interests. But, they did find that their differences made it more interesting to talk, and they found they did tend to agree on some things, like dolphins. Don’t ask. Thirdly, they started to think of each other as more than just acquaintances, closer to friends. And lastly, Crowley realized he became a horrible pining mess, when he developed a crush, which hasn’t really happened before.

Ezra realized that he enjoyed spending time with Crowley. The boy didn’t like to show it, but he was kind, and caring. He was very talented in his artistic abilities, and he was very skilled at the piano. He listened to Queen a lot, but his reasoning behind it was, somehow, every 2 weeks, his Spotify playlist turns new songs into Best of Queen songs. Ezra doesn’t believe him at all, and just thinks he doesn’t want to admit how much he loves the band, because Ezra has seen that Spotify playlist, and there were songs that weren’t from the Best of Queen album. Don’t ask Ezra how he knows that. He also learned that Crowley loved space, and even designs stars in his spare time. He was taking Astronomy and Physics, in the hope that maybe one day, he could see the stars up close.

Crowley learned that Ezra really liked older things, but he understood modern technology. There was a jacket in Ezra’s closet, that had belonged to his great great great grandfather, back in the 1800s. It had been well taken care of, passed down from father to son, and now, it was his. He liked books, the older, the better. He liked classical music, Shakespearean plays, and good food. He was the softest person Crowley had ever met, but Crowley had grown to know just how much of a bastard Ezra could be. It was actually kind of scary. And none of this helped Crowley get over his crush. In fact, it just made things worse. He hadn't told anybody about it, not even his parents. And certainly not Ezra. The embarrassment of confessing that might actually kill him, and he was positive there was no way Ezra would feel the same.

But, he and Ezra hung out every day at lunch, always at the library. The librarian had become so used to seeing Crowley being friendly with her favorite student, she finally explicitly told both boys they could eat in the library. And they sat next to each other every history class. They never saw it, but their teacher always smiled when she saw them together. She kept trying to get them to work together on projects, and this time, they happily agreed, and she learned, quite to her own excitement, that when they worked together, they were one hell of a team. They worked diligently, while being able to chat about off topic things. They worked together on the research, and if the project was a poster, Ezra would do the writing, and Crowley would do the drawing. They aced it everytime. Gabriel and the Archangels watched Ezra and Crowley with a taste of disdain, none of them approving with Ezra's apparent choice of friend. Meanwhile, the Demons just sat back, and waited for news of the first kiss, with smiles on their faces. It seemed everyone in Eden High was invested in this friendship. Crowley and Ezra never seemed to take notice, just chilling happily in their own bubble.

It was another day where Crowley "treated" Ezra to breakfast, when they finally crossed a new line in their friendship.

"What?" Crowley asked, looking more than confused. Ezra laughed at him.

"I asked if you wanted to hang out, together, after school today, you wiley old serpent" he said, fondly. Ezra had started calling Crowley that, after he found out the other boy had a fascination with snakes.

"Well, that's a first for us, isn't it? You’re finally ready to show the outside world that Anthony Crowley is your friend?” Crowley joked, and Ezra laughed again.

“You mean, do I want the people around town, who don’t attend this school, to see that I’m friends with one of the most talented, interesting and nice people in the vicinity? If that’s what you mean, then the answer is yes” Ezra said, and Crowley blushed.

“I’m not nice. Nice is a four letter word” Crowley said, and Ezra smirked at him.

“No, definitely not nice. That time you saved me from missing the bus home by standing in front of the bus, so it couldn’t leave wasn’t nice. Nor is buying me breakfast every morning you can. Those are nefarious, diabolical deeds” Ezra said, winking at Crowley, whose blush brightened. 

“Exactly. Glad we see it eye to eye. But, to answer your question, I would love to hang out after school. I will have to check with my parents first, but absolutely” Crowley said, and Ezra grinned. That smile was brighter than the sun. At that moment, Crowley and Ezra both received a text on their phones. Crowley checked his, and saw that it was from Beez, who said, “First date! The proposal should be here any day now!”. At the same time, Gabriel texted Ezra, saying, “Have you thought about this long enough? He’s nothing but trouble". Both boys decided to ignore the texts, but also wonder how exactly Beez and Gabriel already knew.

“Seeing as I’ve already got my phone out, might as well text my mom first, see what she says” Crowley said, and Ezra nodded. Crowey typed out, “Hey mom, my friend Ezra, the one I’ve been telling you about, was wondering if I could hang out with him after school. Wanted to run that by you first, see what you said”, and sent it. Not much time had passed before she texted back, “Of course! From what you’ve told us about Ezra, he seems like a responsible young man. And who am I to prevent you from going on your first date?”. Crowley blushed again and texted, “Mom! It’s not a first date! We’re just going to hang out!”. She just sent a laughing emoji, and he decided to leave it there.

“Well, she said yes, so, looks like it’s all good with her. Did you have any specific place in mind?” Crowley asked, putting his phone away, and looking back up at Ezra.

“Well, not really. I honestly didn’t think I’d get this far” Ezra said, shrugging his shoulders. Crowley laughed.

“Well, now that you’ve gotten this far, any ideas?” he asked, and Ezra smiled again.

“Maybe just walk around town together, see what we can find” he said, and Crowley nodded. 

“I like that idea. I actually need to pick up some more paints from Artistry Plaza anyway, so we can stop in there if you’d like” he said, and Ezra looked excited. 

“That sounds great! We can talk more about it at lunch” Ezra said, looking at his watch, and seeing that it was almost time to get to their first class of the day. Crowley nodded.

“Yeah. If you come up with any more ideas, text me, and I’ll do the same!” he said, and Ezra nodded back at him, as the bell rang.

“Great” he said, and together, they walked out of the cafe. Crowley had Physics and Ezra had AP Lit, which were both on the second floor, so they walked upstairs together, chatting and laughing all the while. They reached the Physics room first.

“See you in history, Crowley!” Ezra called, as he walked backwards slowly to AP Lit. Crowley waved and smiled at him.

“You too, Ez!” he said, and walked through the door, the smile still on his face. He had about an hour and a half before history. It seemed ages away.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the school day finally ended, Crowley left Psychology, and Ezra left Dance, and they met up outside the library.   
>  “So, where shall we head to first?” Crowley asked, as Ezra shouldered his gym bag full of his dance clothes.  
>  “Actually, you wouldn’t mind if we stopped at my house first, so I can drop off my dance clothes? I always take them home on Fridays, so I can wash them” he said, and Crowley nodded.  
>  “Sure! “ Crowley said, and they set off for Ezra’s house together, walking side by side, joking and laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, last chapter of the day, I promise. This took me so long, just to get passed the first like, 10 sentences. I was just sitting there, thinking, "I'm still a teenager, technically. I used to hang out with my friends all the time, before March of this year. I should be able to do this". It took longer than I thought it would, but I got there eventually. I'm very excited for what's to come, because now we can get into some pining! Also, I have no idea how many chapters this thing is going to be. I'm just going with it, until I find a good stopping point. Another also, I realized I kind of based this chapter off of the first time my best friend and I hung out outside of school. He'd finally gotten his permit, and his mom let him use her car for the afternoon, and we just hung out at the mall, and then had pizza for dinner, and then got Baskin Robbins, and he didn't have a job at the time, and I did, so I paid for the food. It was a lot of fun. And, I really hope I'm getting Ezra and Crowley to sound like teens. Because they're only like, 17 in this, and I'm not used to writing for teens. The only one I've really written for was Eve in A Baby Makes 3, and she wasn't a teen for that long. But, as of right now, I think I'm doing okay. And this is kind of set in like, a town, not a city. So there isn't like a mall, or something, just a bunch of cozy shops and restaurants. Anyway, I hope this is still enjoyable, cause I'm actually having a lot of fun with this story, even though it's still kind of short!

When the school day finally ended, Crowley left Psychology, and Ezra left Dance, and they met up outside the library. 

“So, where shall we head to first?” Crowley asked, as Ezra shouldered his gym bag full of his dance clothes.

“Actually, you wouldn’t mind if we stopped at my house first, so I can drop off my dance clothes? I always take them home on Fridays, so I can wash them” he said, and Crowley nodded.

“Sure! “ Crowley said, and they set off for Ezra’s house together, walking side by side, joking and laughing.

“How far away do you live?” Crowley asked, and Ezra shrugged.

“Not that far. It’s only like, a 10 minute walk, but one of my parents usually drives me, because they leave for work a little before I would have to leave for school. Makes things easier” Ezra said, and Crowley nodded. 

“Where do you live?” Ezra asked, and Crowley pointed in the opposite direction. 

“Bout 5 minute walk from the school. I usually walk to school, which is why I get there so early” he said, and Ezra nodded. When they finally reached Ezra’s house, they both stopped outside the front door.

“Do you want to come in quickly, or just wait out here? This won’t take a second” Ezra said, gesturing to the front door. Crowley thought for a moment, and decided against it. 

“That’s okay, I’ll wait out here” Crowley said, and Ezra nodded.

“Be right back” he said, then walked into his house.

“Mom, Dad, I’m just dropping off my dance clothes, and then I’m off to hang out with Crowley” he announced, as he walked up the stairs to his room, and dropped his gym bag off on his bed. He thought for a moment, and decided to grab an extra 10 pounds from the jar of money he had resting on a desk, and then walked downstairs.

“Where is he, Ezra?” his mom asked, coming into view as he stepped back to the first floor.

“He’s just outside. I asked if he wanted to come in for a second, and he decided to wait outside” he said, and she nodded.

“Are we ever going to meet this elusive Crowley?” she asked, and he shrugged.

“Hopefully. But I don’t want to ask him to come inside my house if he feels uncomfortable doing that right now” he said, and his mom smiled at him, her blue eyes shining with pride. He’d inherited them from her, but he got his hair from his dad.

“Alright. Well, you 2 have fun, don’t stay out too late, and keep me updated every once in a while, so I know you’re both okay” she said, pulling him into a hug, and kissing his cheek quickly. He laughed, and pulled away.

“Alright mom. Tell dad I said hi when he comes home from work” he said, walking back to the door.

“I will. Have fun!” his mom replied. He smiled and waved, as he opened the door, and walked out. His mom caught a glimpse of the boy standing outside, wearing all black, with dark sunglasses covering his eyes. His hair looked like copper, and he had a bright smile on his face when Ezra walked outside. She could tell, he was one of the good ones.

“Alright, ready to go?” Ezra asked, and Crowley nodded.

“Where to first?” he asked, and Ezra shrugged.

“Let’s just walk downtown, and see what we can find” he said, and Crowley smiled, and they set off together. They walked for a while, and then came across the art store first.

“Oh, you mentioned you needed some more paints, right?” Ezra asked, stopping in front of the store, and Crowley did a double take of sorts, before he smiled.

“Oh yeah! Thanks for reminding me. Mind if we step in here for a second?” he asked, and Ezra shook his head.

“Not at all. Let’s go!” he said, and they walked in together. The shop wasn’t very big, but it was packed with art supplies. The shop owner noticed Crowley walking in, and smiled.

“Hello Crowley! It’s been a while!” she said, and Crowley smiled back, as he walked up to the register.

“It has, hasn’t it. But, you know how it is. Paint can last me quite a while before I need to stock up on my supplies” he said, and she laughed.

“I guess you’re right. Care to introduce me to your friend there?” she asked, nodding to Ezra, who was looking around the shop.

“Ah! Jenna, this is Ezra. Ezra, this is Jenna. She runs the shop, and knows me all too well. I’ve been coming here to buy paint supplies since I was around 13. Ezra here is a friend from school” he said, and she smirked at him.

“A friend you saw” she asked quietly, so Ezra wouldn’t hear.

“It’s not like that” he replied. She winked at him, but left it alone.

“There are so many colors here!” Ezra said, and Crowley smiled. It felt like showing Ezra another side of himself. Sure, he knew Crowley painted, but somehow, it felt different, buying his materials with his friend around.

“Any new project ideas?” Jenna asked him, and Crowley smiled, his eyes still on Ezra.

“Well, now that you mention it, I’ve just got a brilliant idea” he said, and she rubbed her hands together, excited. 10 minutes later, Crowley walked out with a bag of various acrylic paint tubes, some new brushes, and a couple of canvases. 

“So much for just a few paints” Ezra said, smiling. Crowley rolled his eyes fondly, and laughed.

“Shut up” Crowley said, with a fond smile on his face.

“I have a couple of new ideas for a painting” he said, and Ezra nodded.

“Any chance you’ll tell me the ideas now?” he asked, and Crowley shook his head.

“Nope! It’s a surprise!” he said, and Ezra smiled again, but let it go for now. After walking a little more, Ezra’s face lit up. Crowley looked at him a little confused.

“What’s up? You look like someone just offered to buy you crepes” he joked, and Ezra scowled at him playfully, and swatted at him gently.

“Oh be quiet. Crepes are a delicacy! And anyway, my favorite bookshop is just up ahead! Shall we go inside?” he asked, and Crowley smiled at him.

“Of course! Let’s go!” he said, and he held the door open for Ezra, before walking in after him. The bookshop had a very cozy feeling to it. It was not overly lit, but it wasn’t dark either. There was a very warm feeling to the entire interior. It smelled like old books that were being taken care of. Crowley smiled.

“I like it in here. It’s cozy and warm” he said, and Ezra smiled again. This felt like a pivotal moment in their friendship. Ezra spent a lot of his time in this shop, it was very much a second home to him. That Crowley thought his second home was cozy and warm made his heart light up. Ezra was often nervous to make friends, because he never knew how they would react if he ever took them to the bookshop. He was often called a nerd, by people who didn’t know him, just because he spent his time in the library. But, looking at Crowley slowly walk around the bookshop, a content smile on his face, it just made Ezra’s heart sing with happiness.

“Ezra Fell! It’s been a few days. I had been wondering when I would see you next” joked the shopkeep. Ezra laughed and shook his hand.

“You can blame my friend here for that. He’s been taking up much of my time, I’m afraid. I can’t seem to get rid of him” Ezra said, gesturing to Crowley, who glared at him fondly.

“Oi!” he said, laughing. The shopkeep approached, and stuck out his hand.

“Thomas Shaw” he said, and Crowley shook his hand, smiling.

“Anthony Crowley, but I go by Crowley” he said, and Thomas smiled.

“Glad to see Ezra’s finally found himself a nice young man, who makes him happy” he said, and Crowley and Ezra’s eyes both widened, and their cheeks blushed.

“Oh, we’re not dating. Just friends” Ezra said shyly. Thomas smiled knowingly at them.

“If you say so” he said, and his eyes twinkled mischievously.

“So Crowley, what do you think of my humble bookshop?” Thomas asked, turning his attention to Crowley.

“I love it. It’s very warm and comfortable. I can see why Ezra spends so much time here” he said, and Ezra blushed. Thomas turned back to Ezra with a knowing look on his face, and Ezra blushed even deeper.

“Well, anytime you wish to stop by, you’re more than welcome” Thomas said, and Crowley smiled. Then, a few more customers walked into the shop, and Thomas bid them farewell, and walked off to help the customers.

“You really like it?” Ezra asked, and Crowley smiled softly at him.

“Yeah. It’s very homey. I can see why you spend so much time here” he said, and Ezra smiled in return. There was a fluttering in his chest, and he knew there was something special about Crowley. He was the only person Ezra had allowed to see this side of him, and he embraced it, accepted it. He realized then and there, that he felt something for Crowley that was more than friendship. But there was no way Crowley would ever return those feelings. He was kind, and cool, and funny. And Ezra wasn’t any of those things. He was soft, and nerdy, and spent more time in the library than with people his age. At least Ezra was his friend. If that’s all they would ever be, he was perfectly alright with that.

“I’m glad. If you like, we can come here more often” Ezra said, and Crowley smiled happily.

“I would love that” he said, and Ezra smiled back. They spent 2 hours in the bookshop, Ezra showing Crowley which books were his favorite. Turns out, Thomas specialized in older books, which were quite pricey. Not many people could afford them, but he kept them in good condition, and allowed students from both the high school and the college to use his books as reference on projects, essays and thesis. Ezra had been coming here since he was a child, and almost every book that had been around since then, were still there. Crowley found Ezra to be very adorable when he got excited over books. They only made to leave when they both got hungry.

“There’s a lovely brick oven pizza place a few blocks away” Ezra offered, and Crowley smiled.

“Oh, Henry’s! I love that place. Do you want to head over there?” Crowley asked, and Ezra smiled.

“If that’s alright with you” he said, and Crowley nodded. They both bid their farewells to Thomas, and headed to the pizza place.

“Do you want to share a pizza? We can split the bill” Crowley offered, and Ezra shook his head.

“I’ll pay. My treat” he said, and Crowley shook his own head.

“No, you don’t have to do that” he said, and Ezra just smiled.

“I know, but I wanted to. Think of it as me paying you back for all the times you’ve gotten me breakfast at school” Ezra said, and Crowley shook his head again.

“Ez, you know you don’t have to pay me back for that. I do it because I want to” he said, and Ezra smiled.

“And that’s exactly why I’m doing this” he said, and Crowley smiled fondly at him.

“Fine” he said, and Ezra laughed in triumph. They entered the pizza place together, and sat down at a table. They ordered a medium pepperoni. Crowley had wanted a Hawaiian, but Ezra flat out refused, and they compromised. They ate and talked for a while, just being happy to hang out together outside of school. Today had been a good day for both boys. It felt like something was changing in their friendship, but it was something for the better. They felt closer to each other than they had before. They both got to see important parts of each other, and both were happy the other had accepted those parts. It had been a very good day, and they both had the weekend to look forward to.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next morning, Ezra woke up to a call from Crowley.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still alive! I've been away from this story for a few weeks, because my mom had nose surgery 2 weeks ago, and I was helping her recover. I didn't have much time to work on this story. I wrote Same Speed, because it was an idea that got into my head, and wouldn't let me go. But, now that my mom's basically fully recovered, I can come back and continue this story. And my state is still on lockdown through August, our Governor announced it a couple of weeks ago, so I won't be interrupted by my job any time soon! This chapter almost didn't exist, but then I remembered, it's like October in the story. I can't write a High School AU without a Halloween chapter, that's just not done! So, this chapter came into being! There will be another Halloween chapter, maybe a third. But, as of right now, I'm happy with this story! And don't worry, Ezra and Crowley's relationship is going to take off very soon, just you wait! Don't know if I'll have another chapter up by the end of the day, I'm back on my making shit up as I go streak, so who knows! But, I'm back, and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

The next morning, Ezra woke up to a call from Crowley.

“What?” he asked, when he answered the call, still half asleep, and a little disgruntled at being woken up.

“Well good morning to you too” Crowley said, and Ezra could hear the smirk in his voice. He rolled his eyes fondly.

“You interrupted my beauty sleep” Ezra said, and Crowley laughed.

“Ez, it’s going to take more than beauty sleep to fix whatever you’ve got going on” he said, and Ezra rolled his eyes again. Leave it to Crowley to have a snarky remark for everything Ezra said.

“Anyway, I’m calling, interrupting your beauty sleep, apparently, because I’ve just realized that Halloween is 2 weeks away, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a costume planned yet” Crowley said, and Ezra sat up in bed and stretched. He looked over at the calendar on the wall to his left. Sure enough, there were 2 weeks to Halloween exactly. 

“And what exactly do you plan to do about that?” he asked, and Crowley laughed again.

“See, this is where you come in. Halloween is usually when my nerdy side comes out, once a year. But this year, I’d completely forgotten about it, because I’ve been spending so much time with this one kid, who’s actually pretty cool” he said, and Ezra blushed.

“Sounds like this kids got you really distracted” he said, and Crowley chuckled.

“He does. But, I figured, maybe my friend can help me come up with a last minute costume idea” he said, and Ezra nodded slowly, thinking.

“You don’t expect me to come up with an idea right this second, do you?” he asked, and Crowley laughed.

“While that would be amazing, I don’t. Mostly because I kind of figured you didn’t have a costume planned either, and maybe we could do a friend thing, and have a theme, or something” Crowley asked, and he sounded a little nervous, like he was afraid Ezra was going to think it was a bad idea.

“Actually, I like that idea a lot. You’re right in assuming I don’t have a costume yet. I usually don’t wear anything special for Halloween, but I think your idea is a really good one” he said, and he could almost see Crowley’s happy grin. He smiled to himself.

“Do you want to meet up somewhere, throw a few ideas around?” Crowley asked, and Ezra checked his bedside clock. It was 9:45. He didn’t usually sleep in past 10 most weekends.

“Now?” he asked, and he just knew Crowley shrugged.

“Why not? We can go to that cafe downtown. I’ll buy you breakfast, and we can come up with an idea” he said, and Ezra smiled. That actually sounded like a good plan.

“Sure. Let me just ask my parents. I’m gonna leave my phone here, I’ll be back in a second. Don’t get lonely” he said, and Crowley chuckled.

“No promises” he said, and Ezra smiled, as he set his phone down on his bed, and got up. He stretched, then opened his door, and walked downstairs. His parents were both in the living room. His dad was drinking his morning coffee, his mom was leaning against his dad, reading the paper. Just a typical, quiet Saturday morning. His dad must have heard his footsteps, because he turned to greet him with a smile.

“Morning, Ezra! Did you sleep alright?” he asked, and Ezra nodded.

“Yes. Question. Crowley called me, asking if I wanted to meet him at the Cafe for breakfast. He realized it’s 2 weeks to Halloween, and neither of us have costumes. He wanted to know if I’d have breakfast with him, and throw a few ideas around. Would that be alright with you?” he asked, and his mom turned to face him, a smirk on her face.

“Mom, I know what you’re going to say, it’s not a breakfast date. He usually buys me breakfast at school anyway” he said, before his mom could say anything.

“Alright, fine, it’s not a breakfast date” she relented. Ezra smiled.

“Well, I guess that would be alright. You were out with Crowley last night, and everything was fine. Stands to reason that you’d be fine with Crowley in broad daylight” his dad said, and Ezra grinned.

“Thanks dad!” he said, and started heading back to his room.

“When do you think we’ll get to meet this Crowley?” he heard his dad ask his mom, but he continued up the stairs to let Crowley know.

“I asked Ezra that last night, when he dropped off his dance clothes. He said he’d offered for him to come in, but the boy refused. Ezra said he didn’t want to push him into anything he was uncomfortable with” his mom answered.

“Have you seen him before?” his dad asked, and Ezra’s mom smiled.

“I did. When Ezra left to hang out with him last night, he was waiting outside the door. I trust him with our son. When he saw Ezra coming back, he smiled so brightly. He’s one of the good ones” she said, and her husband smiled.

“Well, if you trust him, then I trust him” he said, and they resumed their morning routines.

“Crowley, they said it’s fine” he said, and he could hear Crowley’s smile.

“Great! You came back just in the knick of time. I was really close to feeling lonely” he said, and Ezra laughed.

“Well, glad I got back when I did” he said, and Crowley laughed.

“When can you meet me by?” he asked, and Ezra thought for a moment. He looked at his clock again, it said 9:50

“Let’s say around 10:20. I have to shower and get dressed, and then the walk is only around 10 minutes” he said.

“Okay. Well, I’ve done all that already, so I’ll head over in 10 minutes, and save us a table. It’s a Saturday morning at the Cafe. Who knows if any seats will be available when we get there?” he said, and Ezra nodded.

“Great! Just text me when you’re heading over, and I’ll let you know when I’m on my way out” he said.

“Awesome. See you there!” Crowley said, and Ezra smiled.

“See you there” he said, and hung up the phone. He stretched one more time and left his room, heading for the bathroom. He got out of the shower, and saw Crowley had texted him, saying he was heading over to the cafe. He texted back, “Should be leaving in about 10. Just got out of the shower”. He quickly went back to his room and got dressed, wearing a simple pair of jeans and a hoodie. October was cold, and he would have to walk to the cafe. Might as well bundle up a little. After he got dressed, he walked downstairs, and noticed it had started raining a little. He grabbed his umbrella, keys and wallet, and made sure his phone was in his pocket. He checked his watch, it was around 10:10. Perfect time.

“Alright, I’m heading out now. I’ll keep you guys posted on what’s happening” he said, and his parents said their goodbyes from the living room. He laughed at them. His mom was probably engrossed in telling his dad about the dumbest article in the paper that day. She did it every morning. He pulled out his phone, and texted Crowley, letting him know he was on his way over. Crowley responded saying, “Great. I’ve got us a table. Place is packed. Glad I got here when I did”. Ezra laughed, and tucked his phone away, and left the house, opening his umbrella to protect him from the rain.

Crowley finished his walk to the Cafe, and thankfully, there was only a 2 person wait, so he’d get a table soon. He gave the lady at the front his name, and asked for a table for 2, and then waited. Around 5 minutes later, he was being led to the table by a waiter with 2 menus.

“Thanks mate” Crowley said, when the waiter got him to his table, and set down the 2 menus.

“A server will be right with you” the waiter said, and Crowley smiled at him in thanks. Not too long after, a waitress stopped at Crowley’s table.

“What can I get you this morning?” she asked.

“Just a coffee for now. I’m waiting for a friend, don’t want to order without him” he said, and she smiled.

“That sounds lovely. Perfect brisk morning for a breakfast date” she said, and he blushed.

“Nah, it’s not really a date. We’re just going to plan some Halloween costumes” he said, and she smiled again.

“Alright. Well, I’ll get that coffee for you right away” she said, and walked away. Crowley’s phone buzzed, and he checked it. “Leaving my house now. I’ll be there in 10” Ezra had texted him. Crowley smiled fondly, and texted back, “Great. I’ve got us a table. Place is packed. Glad I got here when I did” and put his phone on the table in front of him. The waitress returned, a mug of coffee, resting on a plate in her hands. She smiled at him, and placed the coffee down in front of him.

“Thanks” he said, returning her smile, and she walked away. He spent the time waiting for Ezra, by watching the people outside, out and about in the rain. 

“Hello. I’m meeting a friend here?” he heard over the noise of the cafe, and looked up, smiling. Ezra was standing in front of the host at the entrance. Crowley smiled to himself. Always so polite.

“Ezra!” he said, standing up, and Ezra looked up and smiled at him. 

“Good morning Crowley!” Ezra said, as he quietly thanked the host, and walked further into the cafe, to sit with Crowley.

“Good morning. I see I didn’t interrupt your beauty sleep too soon” Crowley said, and noticed the light dusting of pink across the other boys face. He smiled softly.

“Did you call me so early in the morning, and force me to meet you for breakfast, simply to flirt with me?” Ezra asked, and it was Crowley’s turn to blush. 

“Firstly, early? It was already a quarter to 10! That’s hardly early. Secondly, I seem to recall you were very eager to meet for breakfast. And thirdly, it’s not flirting, if it’s true” he said, and Ezra laughed. The waitress from before came over to the table.

“Ah, this must be the friend you were waiting for. What can I get you, hun?” she asked, and Ezra smiled brightly at her.

“I’ll take a mug of cocoa, thank you” he said, and she nodded.

“And are you boys ready to order yet, or do you need a little more time?” she asked, and Ezra looked at Crowley. He shrugged, his long hair resting on his shoulders. Ezra rarely saw it down in school. It looked lovely like this.

“I’m ready if you are” the red head said, and Ezra nodded, smiling.

“I’ll take an order of pancakes, with a side of bacon, please” Ezra said, handing his menu to Crowley, who stacked it on top of his own.

“And for yourself?” the waitress asked Crowley.

“Whole wheat toast with butter, and a side of bacon as well” he said, handing her the menus. She took them with a smile.

“Alright, that’ll be out shortly” she told them both, and walked away.

“So, you wanted to discuss Halloween costumes?” Ezra asked, and Crowley nodded, reaching into the bag he brought with him, and pulling out a sketchbook, and a pencil. As an afterthought, he reached into his bag once more, and pulled out a hair tie, putting his hair into a quick and messy bun.

“Do you do that everytime you draw?” Ezra asked, and Crowley nodded.

“Keeps my hair out of my face. Long hair gets annoying when it drapes down and covers your eyes. But, I can’t bear to cut it short” he said, and Ezra smiled.

“Well, I’m glad. I do like your hair. I could never grow my hair out long. It would be so curly” he said, and Crowley laughed.

“You should see my hair before I brush it out in the morning. I don’t get these subtle, beautiful curls naturally, I can assure you” he said, and Ezra laughed himself. 

“Your cacao, dear” the waitress said, returning with Ezra’s drink, resting on another little plate. Ezra thanked her, and took a sip. Delicious as always. He and Crowley fell back into casual conversation, as they usually tended to do. They quickly began planning out a costume, throwing ideas back and forth. Crowley was laughing especially hard at one of Ezra’s ideas, when the waitress brought them their food. He managed to pause long enough to thank her, before giggling to himself.

“Okay” Crowley began, after some time of planning. He looked back down at the sketchbook, and the hilarious ideas they had come up with.

“So, our top 3 ideas are, dinosaurs, using those inflatable dinosaur costumes” he said, and Ezra snorted. The idea was just so ridiculous, and yet so funny.

“An angel and a demon” Crowley said, smiling at that idea. He quite liked that one.

“And superheroes”. Ezra had gotten a kick out of that idea. They had both come up with their own ridiculous superhero names, powers, and costumes.

“They’re all so funny, I don’t know if I could choose one!” Ezra said, and Crowley laughed.

“I really want to see Captain Fell come to life, but there’s something about the angel idea that just fits you so perfectly” Crowley said, and Ezra blushed.

“And the demon just works for you” he said, and Crowley mock glared at him.

“What are you implying, Angel?” he said, and Ezra blushed brighter.

“It’s not implying, if it’s true” he said, and Crowley rolled his eyes. Ezra couldn’t see the motion, blocked by his dark glasses, but he could just tell that’s what Crowley had done.

“So, which idea are we going with?” Crowley asked, and Ezra thought. He did so want to wear the inflatable dinosaur costume, but that would require buying one. And the Captain Fell idea seemed fun, but he wasn’t exactly a little kid anymore, and dressing up like a made up superhero was not what high school students were known for. That left only one option. The angel demon idea. He had to admit, the idea had grown on him, and the costumes fit Crowley and Ezra’s personalities perfectly. And they could be as simple or as complex as they wanted. They could buy all sorts of materials, or they could just make the costumes out of cardboard and pipe cleaners. It was a great idea, admittedly.

“Let’s do the angel demon idea! We could make them as simple or complex as we want” he said, and Crowley smiled. He was secretly glad Ezra had chosen that idea. It was an excuse to call the blonde “Angel” more often.

“Alright! So it’s settled! You shall be the pure and innocent angel, and I’ll be the corrupt and evil demon” Crowley said, smirking. Ezra rolled his eyes.

“You know I didn’t mean it that way” he said, and Crowley’s smirk softened into a smile.

“Yes, I know. I’m getting into character! Better be careful, Angel. Don’t want to get tempted, now do you?” Crowley asked, his smile becoming a smirk, as he flashed his teeth at Ezra, and raised an eyebrow perfectly. Ezra blushed and wondered if Crowley practiced that eyebrow raise in the mirror.

“Are you going to be calling me angel this entire time?” Ezra asked, and Crowley’s smirk fell just a little.

“Not if you don’t like it” he said, and Ezra’s heart sped up.

“I never said that. I like it, actually” he said, before realizing what he said. Crowley blushed, and smiled at Ezra.

“Careful Angel. Don’t want to make like your last name, and fall. I’ve heard demons can be very tempting” he said, and Ezra blushed a deeper red. Crowley was really good at flirting, if that’s what he was doing. 

“Oh, I’m sure they can. But it takes more than a little temptation to fell this angel” Ezra said, and Crowley’s heart picked up. He had been flirting, but mostly as a joke. He’d never expected Ezra to start flirting back! Not that that was a bad thing.

“Well then, we’d better get started. Wanna go around town and pick up costume pieces, or are you needed back home?” Crowley asked, and Ezra pulled out his phone.

“Let’s find out” he said, and he texted his mom, “We’ve decided on our costumes. Do you want me to come home, or can I go with Crowley to buy costume items?”. His mom didn’t take long to reply, “You can go with him. We’re not doing much here at home right now. Just out of curiosity, what are the costumes you came up with?”. He reluctantly texted back with, “I’m going to be an angel, and he’s going to be a demon. Don’t start. It’s a friend thing”. She didn’t reply, and he rolled his eyes at his phone.

“So?” Crowley asked. Ezra looked back at him and smiled.

“She said I can go with you. She and dad aren’t doing anything important at home” he said, and Crowley smiled. 

“Well, let’s get our Halloween on!” he said, as the waitress brought him the check. Ezra smiled. If Crowley ever returned his feelings, he would be the luckiest teen ever!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2 weeks later, and it was already October 30th. Ezra had been busy during lunch, talking to a counselor about where he planned to go to college, so Crowley ate lunch alone in the hallway. That was, until he was joined by the Demons. He and the Demons weren’t what one would consider to be “friends”, but they had all known each other, and hung out last year, and they were still friendly towards him, so he didn’t mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a treat, and because I've been away so long, have a second chapter! I actually really like this one. I missed the Demons, and really wanted another chapter with them. Crowley isn't exactly friends with them, but they hang out on occasion, and because he used to be one of them, they know him pretty well. When he left the group, they didn't ostracize him like the Archangels did, and remained friendly, so sometimes he hangs out with them. Less now, because of Ezra of course. They're like that group of friends you would have lunch with in High School, but they weren't really friends with you, you just joined them because they were friendly, and after a while, you're still not friends, but you're on good terms, and they know you pretty well, I think. They remind me of my upperclassmen years. I had a group of people I would hang out with every day at lunch. It was only like, 5 or 6 people, and only a couple were on friends terms with me. And then, after meeting him, and becoming really close, my best friend started hanging out with us too! Anyway, enough reminiscing, Briar! You just left High School last year! So, enough of my bullshit, here's the next chapter, and I hope you guys like it!

2 weeks later, and it was already October 30th. Ezra had been busy during lunch, talking to a counselor about where he planned to go to college, so Crowley ate lunch alone in the hallway. That was, until he was joined by the Demons. He and the Demons weren’t what one would consider to be “friends”, but they had all known each other, and hung out last year, and they were still friendly towards him, so he didn’t mind. He sat on the floor, his back against a wall, on the third floor of the building. He had Astronomy after lunch, so he figured it was better to eat closer to his next class, to cut out travel time. Beez sat to his right, her back also against the wall, Dagon sitting across from her. Hastur sat to Crowley’s left, back turned to the hallway, Ligur lying with his head in Hasturs lap. And Crowley still couldn’t tell if they were dating. You would think they were, but they never did anything out of the realm of friends. Crowley didn’t think too much about it. If they were fine with their relationship, romantic or platonic, that was all that mattered.

“Crowley, are you sulking just because your boyfriend isn’t having lunch with you?” Beez asked, and he rolled his eyes. The Demons knew what his eyes looked like. He’d shown them the previous year, and they found them to be really cool. But, they were still in public, so he kept his glasses on. But Beez knew him well enough to know what his eyes were doing, glasses or not.

“I’m not sulking. I’m just disappointed that of all the people in this school that could decide to have lunch with me, it had to be you assholes” he said, and Hastur chuckled.

“Well, tomorrow is Halloween. Got any plans?” Dagon asked, and Crowley tried to keep his blush down.

“Ezra and I are going to hang out, probably walk around town again, wearing our costumes” he said, and Ligur laughed.

“What costumes did you choose?” he asked, and Crowley felt his face heat up, despite his best efforts to not.

“I’m going to be a demon, and he’s going to be an angel” he said, and Beez looked at him with something Crowley couldn’t pin point.

“Wow, if I didn’t know you better, I’d say you’re crushing on the angel” Hastur said, before laughing. Crowley stayed silent, and put his head down, and in the silence, it sank in, just how right Hastur was, without realizing it. Beez looked at him with sympathy. The Demons had joked about Crowley and Ezra, but they hadn’t known he actually felt something for the other boy. It was one thing to poke fun at 2 friends hanging out. It was another thing entirely, to poke fun, when one of those friends had actual feelings for the other.

“Oh Crowley. You must really like him” Beez said, and he chuckled, lifting his head up. He noticed his eyes were a little wet, but his glasses hid that from the Demons.

“Yeah, I do. He’s really sweet, he doesn’t think I’m a freak. He listens to me when I need to talk, and he’s just so unreal, he’s unlike any person I’ve ever met in my life. I don’t know why, but I just feel like there’s something about him, something special. It sounds stupid, because I’m not even 18 yet, but I feel like he could be it for me. I can’t-it’s hard to describe it, but everytime I look at him, I just get this feeling like, there’s never going to be anyone else for me” he said, and the Demons all shared a glance. They’d never ever seen Crowley like this before. Ezra Fell must be something else, to get Anthony Crowley so wrapped around his finger.

“That’s really deep, especially for you. So why don’t you ask him out?” Ligur asked, picking his head up from Hastur’s lap, and sitting up.

“Fuck no! Why would I do that? He clearly doesn’t have those feelings for me, and he’s really the first person I would call my friend, in all of high school” he said, and quickly added a hurried, “no offence”. 

“None taken. But you don’t know that. I mean I don’t think he has many, if not any other people he’d consider to be friends, at this school. You guys hang out all the time, and everytime I see you two together in the hallway, he’s got the brightest smile. Maybe he does like you back” Hastur said, resting his head against Ligur’s shoulder. 

“Come on, look at me. My hair is constantly a mess, I wear nothing but black all the time, my eyes are hideous, and I’m hardly an excellent student! Why would he like me?” he asked, noticing the rolling eyes all around him.

“Okay, yeah, your hair is always a mess, but you make it work. Black is a good look on you. I literally can’t imagine you wearing any other color, except maybe dark blue, and grey. You’re eyes are fucking awesome looking, and if he hasn’t seen them already, then you have no way of knowing he’ll hate them. And I don’t think he gives a shit about your academic accomplishments. Does he constantly ask how you’re doing in your classes?” Dagon asked, and Crowley blushed.

“Not really. It’s mostly a conversation starter. But really, what would he see in me?” he asked, and Beez looked up to the hallway, smiling.

“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” she asked, and Crowley looked at her, confused.

“What the hell does that mean?” he asked, and she gave him a blank stare.

“Hello Crowley!” he heard from behind him, and he jumped. Spinning around, he saw Ezra standing behind Hastur and Ligur, smiling kindly.

“Hi Angel” he said, waving like an idiot. Hastur and Ligur quietly started laughing to themselves.

“Am I interrupting anything?” Ezra asked, and everyone but Crowley shook their heads.

“Not at all!” Dagon said, and Crowley found he’d never hated her more than he did right now.

“Ezra, isn’t it?” Beez asked, and Ezra nodded. She gestured to the spot to Crowley’s left.

“Won’t you join us?” she asked, and Crowley shot her a glare. She simply smiled back at him, innocently.

“Well, if you don’t mind?” Ezra asked, ever the polite bastard. Crowley felt his cheeks heat up, and wanted the floor to swallow him whole on the spot.

“No, not at all! Right guys?” Beez said, and the Demons all made noises of agreement. Ezra smiled kindly, and sat down next to Crowley, so close, their shoulders brushed. Crowley felt his face heat up even more, and silently yelled every curse word known to man that he knew at Beez.

“Won’t you introduce us, Crowley?” Hastur asked, false innocence dripping from his voice. Crowley glared at him from behind his glasses, knowing Hastur knew he was being glared at.

“Everyone, this is Ezra Fell, who I’m still 90% convinced is a time traveler. Ezra, these are the Demons, the Bart Simpsons of Eden High. To your left is Hastur, with his mop of a head on Ligurs dusty shoulder. To my right is Beelzebub, but we call her Beez, because she hates her full name, and buzzes angrily at you when you call her by it, no joke. And in front of you is the slippery eel, Dagon. And you know me, the Wiley Serpent Crowley” he said, introducing everyone.

“Don’t call him Tony, or he hisses at you” Beez said, smirking at him, and he rolled his eyes.

“It was one time, Beez! Let it go!” he said, exasperatedly. She shook her head at him.

“Never”.

“Meeting with the counselor go well?” Crowley asked Ezra, deciding to change the subject, before he got any ideas, and Ezra nodded.

“Yes. Told her I wanted to go into Literature and History studies, maybe become a professor, or a bookshop owner one day” he said, and Crowley nodded.

“You’ve never mentioned that before. Would I be wrong in thinking Thomas Shaw was an influence in the bookshop owner piece?” he asked, and Ezra blushed a little.

“No, not really” he said, and Crowley smiled. Ezra opened his bag to grab out his lunch, and Crowley turned to look at Beez and Dagon. They both had their phones out, and were taking photos. He flipped them off, and just knew they had both taken a photo of that.

“By the way, how did you know to look here to find me, if that was your goal?” Crowley asked, as Ezra straightened up again, lunch in his hands.

“Oh, I checked our usual lunch spot, and upon realizing you weren’t there, I remembered you had Astronomy after lunch. I figured you would be on the third floor, so you wouldn’t have to walk far to class” he said, and Crowley blushed again. Damn him for being so good.

“So Ezra, tomorrow is Halloween. Got any plans?” Dagon asked, and Ezra smiled brightly. Crowley was almost grateful for his sunglasses blocking out the light of that smile.

“Oh, I’m sure Crowley’s told you, but we’re just going to walk around town wearing our costumes. Spent quite a bit of time working on them too” he said, and Crowley blushed. The Demons were never ever going to let him live this down. 

“Yeah, I think he mentioned that. Angel and Demon costumes, right?” Ligur asked, his head resting against Hastur’s, whose head was still on his shoulder.

“Yes! It was his idea, actually. My own personal idea was the inflatable dinosaur suits, but we would have had to buy them online, and it would have taken too long for them to arrive, so we went with his idea” Ezra said, and Crowley smiled softly at him. Putting those costumes together had been a lot of fun. They were really cheap looking, both Crowley and Ezra agreeing to go the cardboard and pipe cleaners route. But they had such a fun time buying the materials, and putting it all together.

The group continued its awkward, at least for Crowley, conversation until the end of lunch, when the bell rang. The Demons must have had some kind of telepathy, because they all packed up quickly, and said their goodbyes before Crowley and Ezra had barely even stood up. Crowley hated them so much.

“Crowley, are Hastur and Ligur dating?” he asked, watching the two walk away with Beez and Dagon, Hasturs arm around Ligurs shoulder, Ligurs arm around Hasturs waist. Crowley smiled softly at them.

“Honestly, I have no clue. I’m about 85% sure they are. Not even Dagon and Beez know. I asked them about it a while back, and they simply shrugged their shoulders, and told me not to worry about it. Personally, I don’t care whether or not they are. They’ve never done anything out of the realms of friendship, but regardless of whether or not they are dating, so long as they're happy with their relationship, I think that’s all that matters” he said, standing up, and helping Ezra to his feet as well.

“Very kind words, Crowley. I agree. Friends can be physical with each other, so long as both are comfortable with it. Being physically intimate with someone shouldn’t be reserved just for people who are dating” he said, and Crowley smiled at him.

“Would you be comfortable with that kind of friendship?” Crowley asked, his face turning redder than his hair, as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. Ezra’s face turned pink, and Crowley’s heart quickened.

“I wouldn’t mind that sort of thing at all. Platonic cuddling seems like a very comforting thing. Would you, Crowley?” he asked, and Crowley couldn’t tell, but it almost looked like Ezra was nervous what Crowley’s answer was going to be.

“Yeah. I mean, if it’s platonic, and both people are comfortable with it, there shouldn’t be anything wrong with it at all. Actually sounds like a nice experience” he said, and Ezra smiled at him. He smiled back, and then the warning bell rang, and Ezra jumped.

“Oh, I really have to go, Crowley. I have economic downstairs, and I don’t want to be late. See you tomorrow?” he asked, and Crowley smiled brighter.

“See you tomorrow. Don’t be late on account of me!” he said, laughing lightly, and Ezra smiled at him, a strange expression in his eyes, almost a kind of fondness. He looked like he was going to walk away, but then he quickly wrapped his arms around Crowley’s waist, and pulled him in for a quick hug. Crowley startled for a few seconds, before wrapping his arms around the other boys shoulders, and returning the hug. He didn’t want to let go, but if he didn’t, they would both be late to class, so he reluctantly pulled away after a few seconds.

“Alright, now go. Don’t be late, Angel” he said, and Ezra smiled at him one last time, and turned to walk downstairs. Crowley smiled softly, watching Ezra hurry to class, and his heart felt like singing. Ezra was soft on the inside and outside. He hoped they hugged more often. Maybe he’d even get one tomorrow.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween had gone off without a hitch for them. They spent the day around town in costume, sharing a big bag of assorted candy Crowley had bought from the store. All in all, they considered it to be a success. A couple of weeks later, they were sitting in History class together, working together on a worksheet, when their teacher announced a duo project. Their midterm project.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still here, being really lazy, and writing like, a chapter a week, which I should get better at. I've been a bit distracted the past week. I live in America, and I do have a job, but it's been closed since March. And the Unemployment office finally got back to me, and paid me the backpay for all of July, plus the extra 600, so when I checked my bank account last Friday, I had 3,300 dollars, which was awesome. So my family has been using the money for things we've needed for ages, like new mattresses for me and my brother, state ID's for me, because I don't have a license to drive, passports, stuff like that. So, it's been a crazy week. But, I have a clear idea where I want to take the story from here. The chapters might get shorter than they were closer to the start, some might be super long, I have no clue yet. But this one is a shorter one, just because I didn't want to write something super long, because I have other things to do today, but I wanted to write something, and not leave this story for another 3 weeks. Now that shit's kicking off, I can guarantee you, cute shit is about to happen soon! Anyway, here's the next chapter, and hopefully there should be another one before next week. Hope you enjoy!

Halloween had gone off without a hitch for them. They spent the day around town in costume, sharing a big bag of assorted candy Crowley had bought from the store. All in all, they considered it to be a success. A couple of weeks later, they were sitting in History class together, working together on a worksheet, when their teacher announced a duo project. Their midterm project.

“The topic of the project is Victorian Britain. There are a total of 6 topics you and your partner can choose together. It is not a first come first serve, multiple groups 2 can have the same topic. Those topics are major events of Queen Victoria’s reign, Queen Victoria and her Prime Ministers, Britain's industrial revolution, Victorian technology and innovation, daily life in Victorian Britain, and welfare and health in Victorian Britain. The project types are yours to choose. The only rules for the project itself are the usual; be appropriate, stay on topic, work together equally, and have fun. These will not be presented in front of the entire class” she said, and smiled when the students in front of her all breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Yes, I know! No embarrassing yourselves in front of your peers this time! But, they will be turned into me at the end of the term. You have just about a month to work together on this. And this time, I’m letting you pick your own partners. When you’ve finished your worksheets, hand them in to me, and get together with your partner to discuss the details of your project” she finished, and smiled. Everyone nodded, going back to their work. Some were looking around, seeing who they wanted to be their partners, others already knew who they wanted. Ezra and Crowley shared a knowing look, nodded, and continued working, smiles on both their faces.

“Alright, project. What the hell are we doing for this one?” Crowley asked, when they finally finished the work, and handed it in to their teacher. Ezra shrugged.

“I have no idea! But I have always found the Victorian era to be interesting” he said, and Crowley smiled. 

“Why does that not surprise me?” he asked, and Ezra laughed.

“Oh shut up. This is a big project, mid term, in fact. I think it’s too important a project to simply make a poster. And if we decide to do a powerpoint, it would have to be very detailed” he said, and Crowley nodded.

“I was thinking similar. This’ll be a huge grade, so we should do something extraordinary. What topic did you want to do?” he asked.

“Well, what topic do  _ you _ want to do?” Era asked, and Crowley shrugged.

“I don’t know! I’m fine with whatever you choose” he said, and Ezra thought for a moment.

“I mean, we could just do daily life” he said, and Crowley nodded.

“Well, if only choosing the project type was that easy. Writing a song would be interesting, but I can’t sing for shit, and we would have to record it and send it to her” Crowley said, resting his head on his crossed arms on the desk, and looking up at Ezra, who was thinking. Crowley thought he looked adorable when he was thinking hard about something.

“What if we made a board game? With rules and instructions, and pieces, all pertaining to the topic of daily life in Victorian England? We could both do the research, and come up with the rules and instructions together, you could design the board, and I could write out question cards or something” Ezra suggested. Crowley smiled and sat up. 

“That’s actually a really good idea. But we would have to work together after school on this. It’s not something we can work on during lunch. There’s not enough time, and I don’t want to have to keep lugging a board around everyday for a month” Crowley said, and Ezra thought a little more.

“I suppose we could always go to Tom’s bookshop, and work there. But people go in and out constantly, and he might not approve of certain materials in his shop” he said, and Crowley thought of something.

“We could always go to each other’s houses. We can alternate between my house and yours” Crowley offered, and Ezra halted.

“Well, I don’t want you to do anything you’d be uncomfortable with” he said hesitantly. Crowley smiled. 

“I’m not. I was just wary in the beginning, because we were still getting to know each other. But it’s been about a month since we first hung out outside of school” he said, and Ezra smiled at him kindly.

“Alright, we can do that. Whose house are we going to go to first?” he asked.

“Since we’re just going to be planning out the game for now, maybe we should go to yours. Then, when we have a concrete idea on what the board should look like, we can go to mine, since I have all my art materials there” Crowley offered, and Ezra nodded. This was shaping up to be a great idea.

“That works for me! Do you want to start today?” he asked, and Crowley nodded.

“Might as well. That way we know what we’re doing. Don’t want to waste the limited time we have. Besides, if we finish the project early, that gives us a bunch of free time to just do whatever” he said, and Ezra smiled.

“Great! I’ll text my parents, let them know they’re finally going to meet the elusive Anthony J. Crowley!” he said, and Crowley groaned and rolled his eyes behind his glasses.

“You know I hate that name!” he said, and Ezra laughed.

“Yes, I know” he said, and winked. Crowley felt his face heat up a little.

“And I’ll text my mom, let her know where I’m going to be for some of the night” Crowley said, moving on.

“Great! And in the meantime, seeing as it’s nearly time for lunch, we can do a little planning then as well” Ezra said, and Crowley nodded, smiling. This was going to be an interesting month together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I was inspired to have them make a board game from one I made in the 6th grade, I think. It was for English class, and we had to make a project based on books we were reading. We all got to choose a book once a quarter, I think. The book I'd read was Jefferson's Sons, which was about the children Thomas Jefferson fathered with one of the slaves who lived and worked on his property. The board game I made was called Trail to Freedom, and my mom and I worked on it together. It was super cool, and you played as the children, trying to gain their freedom from their lives as slaves. My teacher loved it, and I got a 100 on it. Anyway, I think Crowley and Ezra are going to make something similar, but more pertaining to surviving in Victorian England, surviving diseases, working in factories, things like that. Anyway, that's the inspiration, and that's the idea I have for Crowley and Ezra's project, and I hope you enjoyed!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Mom, dad, we’re here!” Ezra shouted, as he pushed open his front door, Crowley trailing behind him, looking anxious. Ezra couldn’t blame him. It’s not every day you went over to your friends house for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da! I'm still alive, just really lazy. But, we're getting into some good shit coming up in the next couple of chapters, and I'm excited to get to them! Don't know when the next chapter will be up, but here's this one! I hope you guys enjoy, and I'll hopefully have another chapter up soon!

“Mom, dad, we’re here!” Ezra shouted, as he pushed open his front door, Crowley trailing behind him, looking anxious. Ezra couldn’t blame him. It’s not every day you went over to your friends house for the first time.

“Welcome home, Ezra! Your dad’s still at work. He’ll be home later” Ezra’s mom said, walking out of the living room to greet the boys. She smiled kindly at Crowley.

“You must be Crowley! Ezra’s told us a lot about you, it’s nice to finally meet you” she said, holding out her hand. Crowley smiled awkwardly, and shook it.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Mrs. Fell” he said, letting go of her hand. She laughed kindly and waved her hand.

“Please, call me Angela. Mrs. Fell seems too formal a name for my son's best friend to call me” she said, and Crowley nodded.

“Okay” he said, and she smiled brightly. Crowley could see where Ezra got his brighter than the Sun smile.

“So, you boys are working on a project for history?” she asked, and Ezra nodded.

“Yeah, about daily life in Victorian Britain. We’re making a board game, where the goal is to survive the hardships of the time. Crowley’s going to design the board, we’ll do the research together, and I’ll put together the rules of the game, and things like that” he said proudly, and his mother smiled.

“Who’s idea was this?” she asked, and Crowley smiled at Ezra.

“Ezra, being clever as usual” he said, and Ezra’s face reddened. Angela noticed, and smiled softly to herself. It was very obvious to her that both boys cared very much for each other, but she could see it wasn’t obvious to them.

“Well, you have a lot of work ahead of you, so I’ll let you get to it. Let me know if you need anything. Will you be staying for dinner, Crowley?” she asked, and Crowley shrugged.

“I’m not sure. I’ll talk to my parents about it, and see how late we’re working on this” he said, and she nodded.

“Alright, well, have fun, and I’ll be down here if you need anything” Angela said, and Ezra nodded, smiling.

“Thanks mom, but we should be okay. Come on, Crowley. My rooms upstairs” Ezra said, grabbing Crowley by the wrist gently, and pulling him to the stairs. Crowley’s growing blush did not escape Angela, and she smiled to herself again. These boys were so oblivious, it was almost not funny. She pulled out her phone, and texted her husband, letting him know Crowley was here with Ezra.

“Angel, your room is so clean!” Crowley said, when Ezra led him into his room, and closed the door behind them.

“What, your room doesn’t look like this?” he asked, and Crowley snorted.

“I wish. It’s not even half as good as this. I am terrible at cleaning my room. I can never focus on it, and then I get distracted, and then a day has gone by” he said, and Ezra laughed.

“Well, if you ever need help, I’m always willing to help” he said, and Crowley blushed. He wasn’t sure he wanted Ezra to see his room, the horrible mess that it was.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Now, we’ve already got a basic design of the board, but I was wondering what the details should look like” Crowley said, changing the subject quickly.

“That’s a good question. Maybe a dirty London street, or something?” Ezra asked, and Crowley smiled, pulling out his sketchbook, flipping past some sketches, the drawings of their costume ideas, and landing on the outline they agreed upon for the spaces of the game. It curved around the board like a snake.

“That’s not a bad idea. Or, it could have pictures of factories, the London skyline, all grey and smoggy. London cobblestone streets, things like that. I can split up the background evenly, so there’s 3 or 4 different images” he offered, and Ezra smiled.

“That sounds like an interesting idea! What media do you want to do this in? Paint, colored pencils, markers?” Ezra asked, and Crowley thought for a moment.

“That depends on how big the board is going to be. If it’s just on poster board, I’ll probably use markers. If we want it bigger than that, I can buy a big canvas” he offered. This was proving to be more difficult to decide on than both boys had originally thought.

“I honestly have no idea how big we should make it. We can always flip a coin” Crowley said, when Ezra didn’t respond. The blonde boy rolled his eyes at Crowley, but smiled fondly.

“Well, if you don’t have any better ideas” he said, and Crowley smiled. He dug a 20 pence out of his pocket, and held it up for Ezra to see.

“Okay, heads I’ll use paint, tails I’ll use markers” Crowely said, and flipped the coin. It spun in the air, and he caught it as it fell, slapping it upside down into the back of his other hand. Heads. Looks like he’s going to have to stop by the Artistry Plaza for more supplies sometime in the near future.

“Paint! Okay, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get some research done” Ezra said, as Crowley pocketed the coin, and pulled his laptop out of his bag. Ezra put the wifi password into Crowley’s computer, then pulled his shoes off, and sat on his bed. 

“You’re welcome to sit on the chair at my desk” Ezra said, and Crowley nodded, smiling, as he sat down on the chair. They worked for an hour, sharing information they were finding, and chatting throughout, until there was a knock at Ezra’s door.

“Come in” Ezra said, and his dad opened the door, smiling.

“Hey Ezra. Just wanted to see how you were doing. I’m Ezra’s father, George” he introduced himself to Crowley, who stood up and offered Ezra’s dad his hand. George looked surprised for a moment, before smiling and taking Crowley’s hand, shaking it a few times.

“Anthony Crowley, but I go by Crowley. Nice to meet you, sir” he said, feeling a little embarrassed. But, he wanted to make a good first impression with his family.

“Oh, you don’t have to call me ‘sir’” George said, and Crowley nodded, moving back to his seat.

“Alright, I’ll let you get back to work. Oh, and Crowley, Angela wanted to know if you’re staying for dinner” George asked, as he moved to close the door again.

“I’ll ask my parents, but they should say yes” he said, and George nodded, and closed the door, letting Crowley and Ezra get back to work. Crowley texted his dad, asking if he could stay at Ezra’s for dinner. His dad quickly texted back, saying that was okay. Crowley smiled, and got back to work. This project was going to be a fun one.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ezra looked around his room, as Crowley got the board out, and all of his painting supplies. He’d already done some work on it, but there were some details he needed to work on. He noticed Ezra eyeing the painting he’d covered with a cloth, as he searched for a hair tie. He never painted with his hair down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys get a second chapter today! I've wanted to write this one for ages, so I decided to write it now! Sorry not sorry for giving you hope in this chapter, but Crowley and Ezra's time will come to be super cute together, I promise. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, because I was super happy about this one!

They continued working on the project every few days, sticking to Ezra’s house. Crowley was too nervous to have Ezra over at his house, until 2 weeks later, when they couldn’t avoid it any longer. Crowley needed to work on the board, but they needed to start putting the instructions and rules of the game together, so the only option was to work at Crowley’s house. Ezra’s mother had already met Crowley’s, when she dropped Crowley off at his house, after his first time working at Ezra’s. She had insisted, not wanting him to walk home in the dark. 

“Your mom is very sweet” Ezra said, as Crowley opened his bedroom door, and they walked in together. Thankfully, he’d tidied his room a couple of days ago, so it was better than it used to be.

“It’s cause she likes you so much. She’s been waiting to meet you for months” Crowley said, closing the door behind them, and shrugging off his backpack and jacket. Ezra looked around his room, as Crowley got the board out, and all of his painting supplies. He’d already done some work on it, but there were some details he needed to work on. He noticed Ezra eyeing the painting he’d covered with a cloth, as he searched for a hair tie. He never painted with his hair down.

“Ah ah ah. No peeking” he said, seeing Ezra move to lift up the cloth.

“But I want to see! I love your paintings!” Ezra pouted, and Crowley smiled softly at him, putting his hair up.

“You know the old saying, curiosity killed the angel” Crowley said, and Ezra gasped in feigning shock.

“Are you saying you’re going to kill me?” he asked, and Crowley smirked.

“Only if I show you the painting” he said, and Ezra laughed.

“Fine, I’ll leave it alone. But, will I ever get to see it?” he asked, and Crowley smiled fondly.

“That’s for me to decide, and for you to find out” he said, and Ezra nodded, relenting.

“Fine. But, I can see the board game, right?” Ezra asked, and Crowley nodded, placing the canvas on a free easel. It looked great so far. The background was split into 4 even parts, one showing children working in a factory, one showing a smoggy London skyline, one showing poor families mining coal, and another, unfinished one showing a street of London.

“Crowley, it looks amazing!” Ezra said, looking amazed. Crowley blushed a little, putting a brush behind his ear, and grabbed his water jar.

“It’s nothing spectacular” he said, and opened his door, heading to the bathroom, to fill his jar. He returned to his room quickly.

“Don’t be ridiculous. It looks fantastic! Wonderful details in small areas” Ezra said, and Crowley blushed brighter, closing his door, and gathering the paints he was using in the painting. Ezra couldn’t help but think about how cute Crowley looked with his hair in a messy bun, and a paintbrush behind his ear.

“Thanks” he said, smiling softly. He grabbed his stool and sat down in front of the canvas. He didn’t know where to start. He’d never painted in front of anyone in a more personal setting. Sure, he’d painted in art class, but there everyone was focused on their own projects, and nobody was watching what he was doing. Eventually, he managed to start, and Ezra took out his notebook and the cards they had cut out to make instructions on. They worked in a comfortable silence. Crowley had taken his glasses off. He never paints with them on, because they darkened the colors he was using. Ezra noticed his glasses were off, and sat on Crowley’s bed with his shoes off, Crowley’s back to him. He really wanted to see the other boy's eyes, but he knew Crowley wasn’t comfortable enough to show him yet, so he would give Crowley time. A couple of hours passed, with the 2 sharing small conversations every now and then, when Crowley finished the final details on the background. He sighed, closed his eyes, and stretched his arms to the sky.

“Finally finished! Now all that’s left is to work on the spaces themselves” he said, placing his glasses on his face, and turning to face Ezra, who was smiling fondly at him. His face heated up, and he smiled back. Ezra noticed Crowley had paint all over his hands, and even some on his face, and found it charming.

“I’ve always wanted to see you paint” Ezra said, setting his laptop aside. Crowley blushed a little deeper, and felt grateful for his glasses.

“Really? It’s nothing special” he said, and Ezra’s smile somehow grew even fonder.

“I think it is. You are incredibly passionate about painting, and it’s very clear, watching you paint. It’s adorable” Ezra said, without thinking, and blushed when he realized what he’d said. Crowley smirked mischievously, got up from his stool, and sat down next to Ezra on his bed.

“Adorable?” he asked, aiming for a teasing tone, but failing, his voice sounding far more soft than he’d wanted it to.

“Yes. I don’t know if you notice, but you make these little noises when you paint, especially when what you’re working on looks perfect. You always have a paintbrush behind your ear like a pencil, and you even started humming before you finished” Ezra said, and Crowley blushed.

“I did?” he asked, and Ezra nodded, smiling softly. He hadn’t even realized he’d been doing those things. He knew he kept a brush behind his ear. It somehow helped his creative process. But he had no idea about the other 2.

“I found it to be really cute” Ezra said, and Crowley didn’t know if he could blush any brighter. It was then he noticed, Ezra’s face had gotten closer to his! How had he missed that? He found himself leaning in unconsciously.

“I’m not cute” he said, his voice softening to almost a whisper, and Ezra leaned closer. He could feel the other boy’s breath on his lips, and his heart pounded like crazy.

“Of course you’re not. You’re beautiful” Ezra said, and Crowley’s heart felt like it was stopping. He was tempted to pinch himself, to make sure this wasn’t a really good dream.

“Well, takes one to know one” he said, leaning in ever closer, gently reaching his hand up to cup Ezra’s cheek, and his heart almost exploded as the angelic boy leaned into the touch.

“Crowley, I have to tell you something” Ezra said, leaning close enough that their noses were just touching. Crowley wanted nothing more than to cross over that last space, but he wanted to hear what Ezra said.

“What?” he asked, so tempted to rest his forehead against Ezra’s. The other boy tilted his face slightly as he spoke, closing his eyes, and Crowley followed suit.

“Crowley, I-” Ezra began, when a knock came from Crowley’s door, and they jumped apart, faces a bright red, breathing a little harder than before.

“Crowley?” they heard, and Crowley realized it was his mom.

“Come in!” he said, and the door opened. His mom stood in the doorway, almost smirking at the sight in front of her, both boys sitting on Crowley’s bed, but just a little too far apart to feel natural, both faces redder than Crowley’s hair.

“I just wanted to let you 2 know that dinner was ready” she said, not saying anything about the state she found both boys in. Crowley was grateful.

“Okay. We’ll be down in a second. I just have to clean up the paint and myself” he said, and she nodded, walking out of the room, closing the door behind her. Crowley sighed, and the awkward energy between him and Ezra had never been higher. 

“Alright, I just have to clean up, if you want to go on ahead of me. I’ll be down in a few” Crowley said, turning to Ezra. The other boy was still very red in the face, but he made no move to get up.

“I-I can help, if you want” he offered, and Crowley’s heart melted, but he shook his head. He needed a few minutes to register what almost happened.

“Nah, that’s okay. It shouldn’t take me all that long. I’ll meet you downstairs” he said, and Ezra nodded, closing his laptop, which had put itself to sleep. He got up, smiled at Crowley, opened the door, and left, closing the door behind him. He didn’t make it very far down the hallway, before stopping, and leaning against a wall, his hand to his chest, desperately trying to calm his heart. He’d almost kissed Crowley! And Crowley hadn’t pulled away! He’d even placed his hand on Ezra’s cheek. Ezra took a few deep breaths, and got his head to stop spinning, before walking down the hallway to go downstairs.

“Holy shit” Crowley whisper yelled to himself. What he’d give for his mom to not have knocked on his door when she did. He had been so close to finally kissing Ezra! It had felt like a dream come true! He pressed his forehead against his door for a second, letting the cool wood ground him back into the present, and then he started cleaning up his painting supplies.

Unbeknownst to both boys and Anthony, Crowley’s father, his mother Mary was texting Ezra’s mom.

‘I think they were kissing, or about to! I knocked on Crowley’s door, and when he told me to come in, they were sitting too far apart to be natural, and they were both red in the face!’ she sent, and Angela sent back a clapping emoji.

‘They really do care about each other’ she said, and Mary smiled.

‘I’ll bet they get together by Christmas’ she said, and Angela texted back with a ‘You’re on!’ Mary smiled, and texted a quick ‘Got to go. Ezra’s coming downstairs. Crowley’s cleaning up his paint supplies’. Angel sent her a thumbs up, and she put her phone away.

“Did you guys get very far?” Mary asked, and Ezra nodded, sitting down at the table, a couple of seats away from Crowley’s father Anthony, who looked almost the spitting image of his son, except for the hair. Anthony had pitch black hair, while Mary had the same copper red hair that Crowley had.

“All that’s really left is for us to finish the board, and the instructions. We made the pieces last week, they’re at my house” he said, and Mary smiled.

“I’m glad. Crowley isn’t a bad student, but he does tend to finish projects quick, without working very hard on it” Anthony said, and Ezra nodded. He knew Crowley had ADHD, it must have something to do with that.

“Ah, speak of the devil” Mary said, noticing Crowley walking down the stairs. He scowled at her.

“Are you ever going to let that go, Ma? It was a phase I went through 4 years ago!” he said, and she smirked at him. Ezra noticed she had the same smile as Crowley. Just enough mischief to seem like their up to something, but you can tell they were only teasing.

“If I haven’t let it go yet, I don’t think I ever will, J” she said, and he rolled his eyes fondly at her. She couldn’t see, but Crowley could never hide his expressions from her. Crowley moved and sat down next to Ezra, a soft smile on his face. Both boys thought back to what almost happened in Crowley’s room, and felt hope for the future. Maybe they could feel the same about each other after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, Crowley's dad is basically what I imagine Book Crowley looks like, black hair, nice black and red suits, snake-like in the same way TV Crowley is, skinny, and tall. And his name is Anthony Crowley, same as Crowley, so the J in Crowley's name stands for Junior. He's Anthony Junior Crowley, and he hates it, especially if people (read; the Archangels) call him Tony. His mom calls him J, and his dad calls him Crowley.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Those few days came and went faster than both Crowley and Ezra had expected, and suddenly, Ezra was standing in Crowley’s room with a bag filled with things for the overnight stay. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did it! I wrote another chapter! I just got back from a vacation I took with my family, and I wrote this on the 5 hour drive back home. It's kind of a cluster fuck of words all slammed together however the fuck I wanted to be, but it's still pretty good. I did try my best with the kissing, but I have literally 0 experience, so this is all just from what I've read of other people who are better at writing kissing scenes than I am. On another note, I just got a new job over the weekend, and I start tomorrow at noon. So now, these chapters are going to come even fewer and farther between than they already had. But, I intend to finish this story! I came as far as them getting together, I intend to do so much more with this. But, here it is, the moment that I've been wanting to write since like, chapter 8! I hope it's good, and doesn't sound stupid, and I hope you guys enjoyed!

Crowley and Ezra continued working on the project from either boy's house, though they could both feel a shift in their friendship. They never talked about how they almost kissed, but it was on both boys minds during the lead up to Christmas. Crowley kept wondering what would have happened if his mom hadn't decided to check on them 5 minutes later than she had, and Ezra thought about what Crowley would have done if he’d gotten to say what he wanted. Meanwhile, everyone around them could feel the tension between the friends.

“Ezra, what is going on with you and Tony?” Gabriel asked a few days before school got out for winter break. He’d confronted Ezra in the hallway between classes. Ezra rolled his eyes.

“Nothing! What makes you say that?” he asked, and Gabriel crossed his arms.

“You and him have gotten closer in the last couple of weeks than you have since you first met. I told you, he’s toxic. This is just a game for him! He doesn’t care about anyone else but himself” Gabriel said angrily.

“And I’ve told you, you don’t know him like I do. You just hate him because he wasn’t the perfect member for the Archangels. He’s kind and caring, and he understands me. We have our differences, but they make our friendship more interesting” Ezra argued, and Gabriel looked taken aback, before something apparently clicked in his mind, and he sighed.

“God, it’s worse than I thought. You actually like him, don’t you! You’ve fallen for Anthony Crowley. He’s a master manipulator, and he’s gotten to you too” Gabriel said, and Ezra blushed.

“I’m not discussing my love life with you, Gabriel. Now, if you would excuse me, I have a class to get to” he said, bidding Gabriel a farewell, and pushing past him. But Gabriel wasn’t done yet.

“Ezra, this is only going to end in heartbreak! I’m just trying to look out for you! Guys like Tony act like they care, and then as soon as they’ve had their fun, they leave, and go to the next exciting adventure!” Gabriel shouted after Ezra, who ignored him, and kept walking. He knew Crowley, and that wasn’t the Crowley he knew, that he lo-had a crush on. He wasn’t going to call it the L-word just yet. He’s only 17. He doesn’t know what love is, and he doesn’t know if that’s what he feels for Crowley is love. Now wasn’t the time to think about that, he had a class to get to.

“Hey Crawley! How’s it going with your little angel?” Hastur called to Crowley, as the Demons approached him. Crowley groaned. It was the last day of school before winter break, he didn’t want to have to deal with the Demons bullshit before school ended for 2 weeks.

“Hey Hastur! That’s none of your business!” he called back, turning to look at the approaching teens. Hastur had his arm wrapped around Ligur’s waist. Beez had on her usual leather jacket, and she and Dagon were smirking at him.

“Come on Crowley! Spill the beans! It’s super obvious there’s something going on between you two. The sexual tension has been turned up to an eleven for the last 2 weeks!” Beez said, and Crowley rolled his eyes.

“There’s no sexual tension. We’re just excited because his mom has agreed to let him stay at my house for Christmas eve. That’s it” Crowley said, and Beez eyed him carefully. She knew him better than anyone at the school. Well, except for Ezra.

“Nope, that’s not everything. Something happened between you two 2 weeks ago” she said, and he huffed a sigh, knowing she’s not going to let him get out of this.

“Fine. But, don’t go spreading this around. A couple weeks back, we went to my house to continue working on our project for History. And...we almost kissed” Crowley said, blushing a very bright red. Beez smiled supportively at him.

“Damn! Were there words that were said, or was it in a heat of the moment kind of thing?” she asked, and Crowley blushed brighter. She smirked. In the 2 years she had known Crowley, nothing ever made him blush like that. She found it incredibly amusing.

“It was a bit of both. I’d been painting the board for our project, and when I finished, he called me adorable and beautiful. And then we started leaning closer and closer, I even put my hand on his cheek, and he leaned in to it. And just before we actually kissed, my mom knocked on my door to check on us, and that was the end of it” he said, and Beez looked at him with sympathy.

“Wow. Do you have any plans for Christmas Eve?” she asked, and he shook his head. 

“Just hanging out with him is enough for me” Crowley said, and she nodded.

“Wow Crawley. That sounds like more than just a crush at this point” Hastur said, leaning against Ligur, who nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, I think I might actually love him, which is a scary thought, because I’ve never felt that before, so I don’t even know if that’s what I feel” he said, feeling the corners of his eyes sting. 

“Just listen to your heart” Dagon said, and Crowley laughed, resisting the urge to gag.

“Alright you sappy assholes, I gotta go. Gotta get through the rest of the day, and then actually clean my room tomorrow” Crowley said, picking up his bag, and backing away from the Demons. They laughed at him.

“Alright, see you Crowley. Have a good break” Ligur called, and Crowley waved.

“Same to you!” Crowley called, and turned around to continue to his next class. Christmas Eve was a few days away, and he had a lot to do before then.

Those few days came and went faster than both Crowley and Ezra had expected, and suddenly, Ezra was standing in Crowley’s room with a bag filled with things for the overnight stay. 

“Long time no see” Ezra joked, and Crowley laughed.

“Oh shut up. We talked on the phone for ages just yesterday” he said, and Ezra laughed.

“Well, it’s felt like a long time then” he said, and Crowley blushed.

“Please tell me you packed more than just ugly Christmas jumpers” Crowley said, and Ezra gasped in false hurt.

“I’ll have you know my taste in jumpers is spectacular” he said, and Crowley rolled his eyes behind his glasses.

“Whatever helps you sleep tonight, Angel” he said, and Ezra laughed again. Crowley’s heart melted again.

“So, where do you intend for me to sleep?” Ezra asked, and Crowley looked around his spotless room and shrugged.

“Well, if you brought a sleeping bag, I guess you can just pick a spot and set up shop” he said, and Ezra nodded.

“Now, mom’s got Christmas Eve dinner cooking, but it’ll be another 2 hours at least before it’s ready. So my 2 questions are, what do we do until then, and would you rather have your gift tonight or tomorrow morning?”Crowley asked, and Ezra thought for a moment.

“Well, to answer your second question, I’m very excited to see my gift, so we can exchange gifts tonight, if you don’t mind. As for your first question, I have no idea what we can do for the next 2 hours” Ezra said, and Crowley smiled.

“Well, we have board games, video games, books, other stuff” Crowley listed, and Ezra nodded.

“Or we could just talk like we usually do” Ezra suggested, and Crowley paused. Why hadn’t he thought of that?

“You know what? That sounds like an excellent idea!” Crowley said, and Ezra smiled, taking a seat on Crowley’s bed. They talked for the full 2 hours, feeling like no time at all had passed. Before either of them knew it, Crowley's mom was letting them know the food was ready, and they were heading downstairs, laughing together and smiling. Mary smiled at Anthony without Crowley and Ezra noticing, and he smiled back. It had been a long time since Crowley had had a friend like Ezra. Neither parent could even remember the last time Crowley and a friend had a sleepover, and they could both see that Ezra meant a lot to Crowley.

“Ezra, what’s your family doing for Christmas? Do you have a yearly tradition?” Anthony asked, once dinner had been served. Crowley sat next to Ezra, and Anthony sat next to Mary across from the table.

“We usually have the typical Christmas dinner, turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls, stuffing, that sort of thing. Sometimes my grandma comes down, but she’s getting on in years, and it’s difficult for her to travel in the cold. What do you do?” Ezra asked, taking a sip of water. Crowley smiled from next to him.

“We usually have a regular meal on Christmas Eve, and then since it’s just us 3, we go out to the Chinese restaurant and have Peking duck for Christmas” Crowley said, turning to look at him. Ezra smiled back.

“I’ve never done that before. It sounds lovely” he said, and Crowley’s smile brightened.

“It is. We first went when Crowley was 8, and he loved it. It was the first time we’d taken him to have Chinese” Anthony said, and Mary smiled at Crowley.

“You know, I’ve always wondered, why do you go by Crowley?” Ezra asked, looking at Crowley again. Crowley blushed.

“My full name is Anthony Junior Crowley, but people tend to call me Tony or Junior, so I just stick with Crowley. Now the only person who calls me Tony is Gabriel, but he’s called me that since first year, so I imagine that’s what he’ll call me forever. And Hastur does call me Crawley still, but I think he just does it to be annoying on purpose, so I don’t much mind” he said, and Ezra nodded.

“I just call him Crowley because it’s easier for both of us to realize who’s being referred to. Most people call me Anthony, especially the people I work with, so it makes it especially easy when we have co-workers over or something” Anthony said, and Ezra nodded again.

“And I call him Jay, because when he was little, he used to dress up as Jay, the amazing superhero. It was adorable” Mary said, and Crowley blushed, hiding his head in his arms on the table. Leave it to his mom to embarrass him in front of his best friend. Ezra smiled fondly at Crowley, and continued eating. 

“Oh! I’ve just remembered! My parents wanted me to ask if you’d all like to join us for Christmas dinner tomorrow night. It’ll just be us 3, and mom always makes a full turkey” Ezra said, looking at Anthony and Mary. They looked at each other, almost seeming to have a conversation entirely through looks alone before nodding to each other, smiles on both faces.

“We’d love to! Is that alright with you, Jay?” Mary asked, looking at Crowley. He smiled and nodded.

“Great! Mom said if you say yes, then you can just come over when they were going to pick me up anyway” Ezra said, and Anthony and Mary nodded. Suddenly Crowley had a thought.

“Mom, dad, since Ezra’s staying over tonight, and we’ll be going over for dinner to his house tomorrow anyway, do you think I could spend the night at his house?” he asked, and his parents looked at each other again.

“Well, we will be going over for dinner anyway, and it is Christmas” Anthony said, turning back to Crowley.

“So long as George and Angela say yes, then I suppose that’s alright” Mary said, and Crowley and Ezra both beamed.

“Thanks mom and dad!” Crowley said, and with that, dinner continued. There were conversations here and there, and all in all, the dinner was very delicious and fun. When it was over, Ezra offered to help clean up, but Anthony refused.

“You’re the guest, Ezra. It’s very kind of you, but I’ve got it. Go hang out with Crowley. We’ll be alright” he said, and Ezra nodded, following Crowley back up to his room, Crowley closing the door behind them. They both sat on his bed for a second in silence, before Crowley clapped his hands together.

“Alright, present time!” he said, standing up to get the gift. Ezra reached out and grabbed his hand. Crowley’s face heated up, and he looked back at his friend.

“Actually, if it’s alright, I’d love to give you yours first” he said, and Crowley nodded, finding his mouth unable to form words at the moment. He sat back down on the bed, and Ezra stood up, rummaging through his bag, before he pulled out a package wrapped in a lovely blue wrapping paper that had silver stars on it. He handed it to Crowley, and sat down next to him, smiling.

“What is it?” Crowley asked, smirking at him. Ezra shrugged his shoulders.

“Open it and find out” he said, and Crowley smiled. He carefully tore away the wrapping paper, not wanting to leave too much of a mess. When he pulled away the last bit of paper, he gasped. It was a very large astronomy book, complete with color pictures and descriptions of certain stars, nebulas, planets and other astronomical bodies. Crowley gaped up at Ezra, who was smiling wide at him.

“Do you like it?” he asked, and Crowley smiled just as wide.

“I love it! This is spectacular, Angel! Thank you so much!” he said, pulling Ezra into a tight hug that was quickly returned.

“I know how much you love space and the stars, and I thought this might be a good book not only for the information, but perhaps you could use the pictures as reference for paintings” Ezra said, and Crowley beamed at him. It was utterly perfect!

“It’s amazing! Thank you!” he said, before standing up, and gently placing the book on his bed.

“Right, your turn! Close your eyes!” he said, and Ezra complied, peeking just a little. Crowley noticed, and smiled.

“No peeking!” he said, and Ezra laughed, closing his eyes again, and keeping them closed. He heard Crowley pick something up, and then set it down in front of him, and he resisted the temptation to open his eyes before Crowley told him to.

“It’s not wrapped, but it’s covered by a sheet. Do you want to pull the sheet away, or should I?” he heard Crowley ask, and he shrugged his shoulders.

“You choose” he said, and he heard the sheet fall away.

“Okay, you can open your eyes now,” Crowley said, and Ezra asked, before gasping and standing up. It was a painting of him from the shoulders up, smiling brightly, a halo over his head, a soft glow of light around him. He looked otherworldly, and very beautiful, if he was being honest. Crowley captured his likeness perfectly.

“Do you like it?” he heard Crowley ask nervously, and he realized he hadn’t said anything in at least a minute. He shook his head a little, and brought himself back to reality.

“It’s beautiful” he said softly, and Crowley smiled.

“Really?” he asked, and Ezra nodded.

“Yes. I look very angelic” he said, and Crowley’s smile softened, and he did something he had never done around Ezra. He picked his glasses up off of his eyes, and pushed them into his hair. Ezra’s eyes widened at the sight of Crowley’s eyes. They were beautiful, light brown, almost gold if you looked in the right light, and his pupils were elongated like a snakes. And they were looking at him with nothing but love. Ezra suddenly understood another reason Crowley wore glasses so often. Not only because of the way his eyes looked, but because they were perhaps the most expressive part of him.

“It’s how you look to me. When I look at you, this is what I see” Crowley said softly, and Ezra looked at him, shock and adoration in his eyes.

“Really?” he asked, and Crowley nodded, taking a step closer to Ezra.

“Yeah. When I look at you, you just look like an angel. You’re so beautiful” he said, and Ezra smiled softly at him, stepping closer to him. They were only a few inches away from each other.

“Crowley, I-I don’t know what to say” Ezra said, and Crowley smiled, gently reaching out and grabbing Ezra’s hand in his. Ezra looked down at their hands, before looking back up at Crowley, and weaving their fingers together. Crowley’s face reddened, and Ezra smiled at him.

“Ezra, I-I think I love you. And, more than as friends, because I know there’s the friend love. I mean, I’ve never felt this sort of thing before, and I’m not even 18 yet, and I’ve never even dated anyone before, but this feels like so much more than just a crush. It feels like I could spend forever with you. It’s more than just wanting the usual teenage romance. I want to like, fall asleep next to you, and wake up with you holding me. God, I know that sounds cheesy, but I just-” Crowley said, before Ezra cut him off with a tight hug. Crowley wrapped his arms around Ezra’s waist and hugged him back.

“Crowley, I think I love you too. I didn’t know what I felt for you, but hearing how you feel, it’s the same for me, so I think it’s love too. I’m so happy to have you in my life” Ezra said, pulling back just a little to see Crowley smiling at him.

“Ezra, can I kiss you?” Crowley asked, and Ezra leaned in close enough that he could feel Crowley’s breath on his lips.

“Please” he replied, almost in a whisper, and Crowley leaned forward that last little space, and connected their lips. It was very chaste, neither knowing how fast or how slow to go, but even that sent fireworks up Crowley’s entire body, and sent his heart pounding like a drum. It was beating so quickly and hard, he was surprised Ezra couldn’t feel it. They both pulled back just a little, to see if the other was okay with that simple kiss, before leaning back in, and kissing again, deeper this time, but still just as simple and soft as the first. Then suddenly, Ezra wrapped his arms around Crowley’s neck, and gently carded his hands into Crowley’s long red hair. Crowley felt a fire growing in his stomach, and wrapped his arms around Ezra’s waist again, pulling him in closer, Ezra going willingly. The kiss deepened, and Ezra opened his mouth against Crowley’s, pulling a gasp from Crowley, before he responded in kind.

The kiss continued for only a few seconds longer, before both boys had to part for air, but they stayed close, resting their foreheads together as they both took deep breaths.

“That was nice” Crowley said, smiling at Ezra. Ezra smiled back.

“Yes, it was” he said, before taking the initiative, and leaning back in for more, this kiss deeper and more passionate than before. Crowley made a whining noise as he kissed back, walking them back towards his bed, sitting Ezra down and taking his own seat on his knees on either side of Ezra’s lap. Ezra moved his arms to wrap around Crowley’s waist, and Crowley gently cupped his face. They continued kissing, Ezra’s hands toying with the hem of Crowley’s shirt, before one slipped underneath, and Crowley pulled away with a wet smack.

“Everything okay?” Ezra asked, hoping he didn’t cross a line and ruin everything.

“Yeah. I’m just not ready for that yet” Crowley said, panting from the kiss. Ezra nodded, feeling a little bad.

“I’m sorry” he said, and Crowley smiled softly at him from his lap.

“Don’t be. You didn’t know, and you’re respecting my boundaries. Besides, the kissing and sitting in your lap is nice” Crowley said, and Ezra smiled back.

“I have to admit, I do like seeing you here on my lap” Ezra said, and Crowley blushed.

“Well, you can expect to see me here a lot more often, Angel'' Crowley said, leaning in and pressing a chaste kiss to Ezra’s lips once more, before placing their foreheads together. They sat together like that in silence for a while, before Crowley tried to stifle a yawn, and failed. Ezra smiled softly at him.

“Alright, it’s bedtime, isn’t it?” he asked, and Crowley shook his head, wrapping his arms around Ezra’s chest, snuggling up to him closer.

“Nope. Gonna stay here. You’re soft and warm” he said, and Ezra giggled at him. Crowley’s heart felt like it was exploding.

“You’re like a snake. You curl around warmth, you don’t eat much, you hiss at people, if Beez is to be believed, and your beautiful eyes look like a snakes” Ezra said, and Crowley blushed.

“You think my eyes are beautiful?” he asked, leaning back a little, and looking Ezra in the eyes.

“Yes. Every part of you is beautiful” he said, and Crowley blushed brighter.

“Most people think they look freakish” he said, and Ezra scoffed.

“Well, most people don’t know what’s right” he said, and Crowley smiled softly.

“Thank you” he said, and Ezra kissed his forehead gently.

“Alright, now it really is bedtime” Ezra said, and Crowley groaned, and reluctantly got off of Ezra’s lap. Ezra instantly missed the warmth.

“Fine. Have you decided where on the floor you’re going to sleep tonight?” Crowley asked, and Ezra blushed.

“Actually, I was wondering if, er, you wanted to share your bed. You seemed so peaceful resting in my lap, and you had said you wanted to fall asleep next to me, so I just thought you might like to continue me holding you” Ezra said nervously. Crowley blushed, but smiled brightly at him all the same.

“Ezra, I’d love to. But, you know, just to sleep, nothing else, right?” he asked, knowing that Ezra just meant to sleep, but he wanted to ask anyway. Ezra nodded hurriedly.

“Yes, just to sleep. I-I rather liked getting to hold you in my arms, and I figured, why stop just because we have to sleep. We’re staying in the same room anyway. Might as well” he said, and Crowley nodded, smiling.

“Sure” he said, and Ezra smiled back, looking relieved. They got dressed together, facing away from each other, trusting that neither will peek at the other. When they were both dressed in night clothes, Crowley laid down under the covers, and held them up for Ezra to get under. He climbed next to Crowley, and they settled in together, lying on their sides to face each other. Crowley reached up and turned his bedside lamp off, and they were surrounded by darkness, the only light coming in from the distant street lamp outside. They passed by a few minutes in silence, before Crowley spoke again.

“Ezra?” he asked, and Ezra looked at him.

“Yes?” he asked back, and Crowley looked away nervously.

“Would, would you like to be my boyfriend?” Crowley asked, his voice shaking just enough for Ezra to hear, and he smiled.

“Yes” he said, and Crowley beamed, sliding closer to Ezra, wrapping his arms around the boy’s waist and kissing him once. Ezra draped his arm over Crowley’s waist in return, and they fell asleep like that, in each other's arms. Unbeknownst to them, an hour later, when they were both fast asleep, Crowley’s front door was opened quietly as Mary and Anthony checked up on the boys, to make sure they weren’t up too late. They were greeted with the sight of Ezra and Crowley in bed together, fully clothed, to both parents' relief, and gently holding each other. Through the light coming in from the hallway, they could just make out the content smile on Crowley’s face, as he shifted a little, and pulled Ezra closer to him. Mary smiled to Anthony, who smiled back. They had been right. Crowley cared about Ezra very much. They were just happy to see their son had found someone who cared about him just as much as they did. With that, they quietly closed the door again, and let the boys sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a very interesting day for everyone. Better let them get their sleep till then.

**Author's Note:**

> Also, just because I can, The schedules for Eden High are based off of schedules from my High School, 8 classes, and on Mondays, they have every class for about 40 minutes. Then, every other day, they have even classes. So Tuesday and Thursday, they have periods 1, 3, 5 and 7, and on Wednesday and Friday, they have 2, 4, 6 and 8. Crowley schedule is, in order, 1) Piano, 2) Physics, 3) English, 4) History, then lunch, then 5) Art, 6) Astronomy, 7) Latin, and finally 8) Psychology. Ezra's schedule is, in order, 1) Baking, 2) Advanced Placement (or AP) Literature, 3) free period, 4) History, then lunch, then 5) French, 6) Economics, 7) Religious Studies, and finally, 8) Dance. I have a bit of experience in some of these classes, having taken them myself in High School. Mainly English, History, Art, Astronomy, Psychology, and Dance. I did take Financial Literacy as a Junior, but I think it's a little different than Economics. Anyway, just wanted to share their schedules for their Junior year. I also planned Senior year, but we'll cross that bridge if and when we get to it. Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
